Fiona to visit the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend


Nearly five years after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, Tropical Storm Fiona is headed for the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico this weekend.

This time, Fiona is headed for the Caribbean, where she is expected to bring heavy rain, possibly flash flooding, and mudslides—but nothing on the same scale as Maria’s “once in a century” storm.

With Fiona becoming the sixth named storm to form in the Atlantic on Wednesday night, it has been a relatively quiet storm season thus far. Tropical storm warnings were issued by the U.S. National Hurricane Center for the easternmost islands of the Caribbean.

The centre advised that anyone with interests in the Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico should follow the development of this system.

Fiona was travelling at 13 mph on Thursday with maximum sustained winds of roughly 50 mph, according to forecasts. In the next days, there isn’t expected to be much of a shift in strength.

Early on Saturday morning, rain will begin to fall in Puerto Rico when Fiona makes landfall to the south of the island.

The risk of flash floods and mudslides may increase as heavy rain lasts until Sunday morning.

It is possible that the island may get 3 to 6 inches of rain, with the highlands receiving 6 to 10 inches.

Power outages could be widespread throughout Puerto Rico.

Before moving on to Haiti, Fiona will pass through the Dominican Republic, where up to a foot of rain is possible.

The storm will likely strike Turks and Caicos early in the next week with winds of a hurricane intensity.

It is too soon to say if Fiona will have any effect on the American mainland.

With regard to Fiona’s projected path over the next week, forecast models have tended somewhat more to the south and west.

After this weekend, there is still a lot of doubt about the track and strength.

The Bahamas and maybe Florida would need to keep a very careful check on the storm through the middle or end of next week. However, if the present pattern of the system heading a little closer to the west continues.

Tropical storm warnings have been issued for Saba and St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts, Nevis, Montserrat, and Anguilla as a result of Fiona’s current location, which was around 545 miles east of the Leeward Islands.

Fiona is predicted to bring 3 to 6 inches of rain overall, with sporadic greater amounts, to the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and eastern Hispaniola.

By early Friday, ocean waves could start to hit the northern Leeward Islands, bringing with them dangerous surf and rip currents.

Despite the disruptive wind shear, there will be a small window into Friday during which Fiona may strengthen into a tropical storm, according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Rob Richards.

Beyond Friday, interaction with the rising mountains and larger islands over the northern Caribbean will probably result in weakening or at the very least cause strengthening to stop.

Mid-August through early October mark the height of hurricane season, with September often being the busiest month.

So far this season, September has seen the development of half of all named storms.

Hurricane Maria in 2017 was the greatest hurricane to strike Puerto Rico in recent memory, wreaking havoc throughout the whole island and sparking a serious humanitarian catastrophe.

The island has not seen a hurricane as powerful as Maria in over 90 years.

On September 20, high-end Category 4 Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, bringing with it a significant storm surge, very heavy rainfall, and wind gusts over 100 mph.

Neighborhoods were destroyed, the island’s electricity infrastructure was destroyed, and it is estimated that 2,982 people died and $90 billion in damage.


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