The Atlantic season`s third named storm is swooping across the Atlantic on a beeline toward the Lesser Antilles today and the greater Antilles of the northern Caribbean Wednesday. Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for Puerto Rico, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Barbados, Dominica and Saint Lucia as well as the southern coast of the Dominican Republic. A Tropical Storm Watch continues for the U.S. Virgin Islands, the southeastern Bahamas, the Turks and Caico Island, Haiti and the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. Additional Tropical Storm Watches remain in effect for Vieques and Culebra as well as Saint Vincent. As of 8 a.m. EDT, Tropical Storm Chantal was located near 13.8 N, 59.7 W. This places it 45 miles north-northwest of Barbados, 85 miles east of St. Lucia, and 1,570 miles southeast of Miami. The storm is moving to the west-northwest at 26 mph. Top sustained winds remain steady at 50 mph, with minimum central pressure with the storm at 29.83 inches or 1010 mb. Tropical storm force winds extend outward about 90 miles from the center, so some of these winds will cross Barbados in the next few hours. Chantal is moving faster than most tropical storms at this latitude. Due to the quick speed of the storm, it will approach the Leeward Islands by midday, dropping a quick 2to 4 inches of downpours before strengthening in the warm waters of the tropical Caribbean. Interaction with Puerto Rico is expected tonight, with Chantal turning across Hispaniola on Wednesday, likely as a strong tropical storm. The interaction with land would cause the storm to be severely weakened, and if it were to survive this path, it would then move across eastern Cuba and into the Bahamas Thursday into Friday. Storm surge is expected to increase by 1 to 3 feet above normal in the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico and 2 to 4 feet above normal along the southern coast of the Dominican Republic. Residents across the Southeast are urged to keep a close eye on the storm as any change in forecast path could allow it to maintain its strength across the Caribbean and direct the storm toward the U.S. The earliest impact for the Southeast U.S. would be this weekend.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 14:23:50 +0000
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