Recently in Yard Weather Category

Irene now a Category One Hurricane

By Webmin on August 22, 2011 9:03 AM No Comments

The official National Hurricane Center track of Hurricane Irene as of early Monday morning, (Photo:myfoxphilly.com).

All eyes remain on Hurricane Irene, which could possibly influence weather conditions over Jamaica between Tuesday, August 23 and Wednesday, August 24.

At 4:00 a.m. on Monday, August 22, the centre of Hurricane Irene was located near Latitude 18.4 degrees north and Longitude 66.4 degrees west or about 40 kilometres west of San Juan, Puerto Rico or 200 kilometres east of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Irene is moving towards the west northwest near 19 kilometres per hour and this motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days.

On the forecast track, the centre of Irene will move off the north coast of Puerto Rico Monday morning and move near or over the northern coastal regions of the Dominican Republic Monday afternoon and Monday night.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 120 kilometres per hour, with higher gust.

Irene is a category one Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane wind scale.

Some strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours.

The Meteorological Service says it will continue to monitor the progress of this system and has advised fishers on the cays and banks to start preparations with a view to evacuate, should it become necessary.

It says all other interests should pay special attention to subsequent releases as it continues to monitor the progress of Hurricane Irene.

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More rain for western parishes

By Webmin on June 9, 2011 2:38 PM No Comments

Image via Wikipedia

Jamaicans will have to brace themselves for more rains as the Meteorological
Service has extended the flash flood warning for low-lying and flood-prone areas
of Trelawny, St. James, Hanover, Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth until 5 p.m.
today.

A flash flood watch remains in effect for other parishes.
Motorists and pedestrians should not attempt to cross flooded roadways or other
low-lying areas as strong currents are likely. Residents in low-lying areas
should be on the alert for rising waters and be ready to move quickly to higher
ground.

The area of low pressure across the western Caribbean remains disorganised and
continues to drift slowly northward, away from Jamaica.

However, unstable weather conditions associated with this system continues to
linger mostly across western parishes. Satellite and RADAR reports indicate that
light to moderate showers, affected western parishes with cloudy conditions
across eastern and central parishes.

The forecast is for periods of showers and thunderstorms to continue across the
island, today, with the heaviest showers and thunderstorms expected across
northern and southwestern parishes. Thereafter, a gradual improvement in the
weather is expected.

Fishers and other marine interests are advised to exercise caution, as strong
winds and rough sea conditions are expected in the vicinity of showers and
thunderstorms.

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Flash flood warning remains for Jamaica

By Webmin on June 8, 2011 6:21 PM No Comments

Meteorological Service has continued the Flash Flood Warning for low-lying and
flood-prone areas of Jamaica until 5 p.m. today.

Motorists and pedestrians are advised not to attempt or cross flooded roadways
or other low-lying areas as strong currents are likely. Residents in low-lying
areas should be on the alert for rising waters and be ready to move quickly to
higher ground.

Satellite imagery and Radar reports indicate that light to moderate showers with
isolated thunderstorm affected most parishes last night.

The MET service said unstable condition persists across Jamaica, while the
stationary area of low pressure is becoming weaker across the western Caribbean
and remains disorganised.

It said we expect gradual improvement across the island during the next 12 to 24
hours. However, cloudy conditions will continue with showers and isolated
thunderstorm mostly during the afternoon especially across northern parishes, as
the situation return to normal.

Fishers and other marine interests are advised to exercise caution, as strong
winds and rough sea conditions are expected in the vicinity of showers and
thunderstorms, especially offshore the west coast.

The MET service will continue to monitor the progress of this system.

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Parishes still on the alert for flash flooding

By Webmin on June 6, 2011 2:09 PM No Comments

A Flash Flood Warning for low-lying and flood-prone areas of St. Mary, Portland,
St. Thomas, Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon, Manchester, and
St. Elizabeth remains in effect for the next five hours.
There is also a Flash Flood Watch for all other parishes also until 5 o'clock
Monday afternoon.
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING means flooding has been reported or will occur shortly.
Motorists and pedestrians should not attempt to cross flooded roadways or other
low-lying areas as strong currents are likely.
Residents in low-lying areas should be on the alert for rising waters and be
ready to move quickly to higher ground.
"The area of low pressure over the Caribbean Sea and Jamaica has remained all
but stationary over the past 24 hours. This large area of disturbed weather is
expected to linger over the central Caribbean until Tuesday and will continue to
influence the weather over the island over this period," said Nickesha Hibbert,
Duty Forecaster at the Met Office.

"Satellite imagery and radar reports indicate that light to moderate showers
affected sections of most parishes Sunday with moderate to heavy showers and
thunderstorms detected across eastern and southwestern parishes. The forecast is
for periods of showers and thunderstorms which could be heavy at times affecting
most parishes today and Tuesday," she said.
Meanwhile, fishers and other marine interests are advised to exercise extreme
caution, as strong winds and rough sea conditions are expected in the vicinity
of showers and thunderstorms.
The Met Office says the Area of Low Pressure now has a medium chance of
developing into a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours.

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Six major hurricanes predicted for this year

By Webmin on May 20, 2011 4:21 PM No Comments

MIAMI, CMC - The United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) is predicting an above-average hurricane season this year.

NOAA said there is a 70 per cent chance of 12 to 18 named storms, which could
become one of the six to 10 projected hurricanes.

NOAA said three to six of those weather patterns could become major hurricanes,
with sustained winds from 111 miles per hour (mph) or higher.

The six-month Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1 and ends November 30.
NOAA said last year's hurricane season was one of the busiest on record, with 19
named storms, including 12 hurricanes.

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Tropical Storm Warning for Jamaica lifted

By Webmin on November 5, 2010 6:40 PM No Comments

The Tropical Storm Warning for Jamaica has been lifted according to a bulletin from the US based National Hurricane Centre.

Jamaica has been under a Tropical Storm Warning since Thursday after Hurricane Tomas threatened to dump rains on the island and add to the misery of Tropical Storm Nicole which had left many parts of the island flooded.

The National Hurricane Centre said that the centre of Hurricane Tomas was passing between Haiti and Southeastern Cuba.

Yesterday forecasters, including the local Met Service, warned that flash-flooding was possible in areas of mainly eastern parishes.

Above-average wave heights were also reported over coastal areas of north-eastern parishes yesterday.

That caused local disaster preparedness experts to remain on full alert last night with an appeal to Jamaicans not to let down their guard.

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Hurricane Tomas moves away from the island, has Haiti in its sights

By Webmin on November 5, 2010 8:32 AM No Comments

Jamaica remains under a tropical Storm Warning even as Tomas, which has been upgraded to a Category One Hurricane, continues to move away from the island.

This means that tropical storm conditions, including possible gusty winds are expected within three to six hours.

In the latest bulletin from the Meteorological Service, issued at 4:00 a.m., Hurricane Tomas was about 150 kilometres or 90 miles south of Morant Point, Jamaica or 280 kilometres or 175 miles west-southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Tomas is moving towards the northeast near 15 kilometres per hour or 9 miles per hour and this general motion, with a further increase in forward speed, is expected over the next couple of days.

On the forecast track, the centre of Tomas will continue moving away from Jamaica and near southwestern Haiti Friday morning, before passing near extreme eastern Cuba Friday evening.

Maximum sustained winds of near 85 kilometres per hour or 50 miles per hour, with higher gusts are expected to strengthen during the next 48 hours.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 130 kilometres per hour or 80 miles per hour, with higher gusts, making Tomas a Category One hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Additional strengthening is possible before Tomas again begins to weaken on Saturday.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 30 kilometres or 18 miles from the centre, and tropical storm force winds extend outward as far as 220 kilometres/140 miles.

Jamaica could still, therefore, come under the influence of tropical storm force winds over sections of eastern parishes Friday morning.

Satellite imagery and radar reports indicate that the heavy showers and thunderstorms associated with Tomas continue to skirt the eastern tip of Jamaica; however, scattered showers are being detected over sections of central and western parishes.

These will rapidly decrease as drier air moves into the area behind Hurricane Tomas.

Small craft operators are reminded to remain in safe harbour until all warning messages have been lifted and wind and sea conditions have returned to normal.

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Jamaica under Hurricane Watch

By Webmin on November 3, 2010 6:57 AM No Comments

A Hurricane Watch has now been issued for Jamaica as Tropical Storm Tomas continues to gain strength.

A Hurricane Watch means that within the next 48 hours Jamaica should start seeing hurricane conditions.

Tomas is now located near latitude 13.5 north and longitude 74.6 west.

It’s moving toward the west near 14 mph or 22 km/hr.

The National Hurricane Centre says a turn toward the west-northwest and northwest with a decrease in forward speed is expected during the next 48 hours.

Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph or 65 km/hr with higher gusts and strengthening is forecast and Tomas could regain hurricane strength by Thursday.

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Tropical Storm Tomas strengthens

By Webmin on November 2, 2010 8:11 AM No Comments

It could be a rainy weekend for Jamaicans if Tropical Storm Tomas continues on the course it is on. Let us also pray for our sister island Haiti that it weakens and fizzle out.

Storm tracking has show that tomas has started to strengthen over the south-central Caribbean Sea as it continues on its westward track.

At four o'clock Tuesday morning, the centre of Tropical Storm Tomas was located near Latitude 13.5 degrees North, Longitude 72.0 degrees West; about 670 kilometres or 415 miles southeast of Morant Point or 570 kilometres or 355 miles south of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Tomas is moving towards the west near 19 kilometres per hour or 12 miles per hour and maximum sustained winds have increased to near 85 kilometres per hour or 50 miles per hour, with higher gusts.

Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 185 kilometres or 115 miles from the centre.

Satellite imagery indicates that there has been an increase in heavy rainfall around the centre of Tomas, indicating that conditions are becoming more favourable for the tropical storm’s development.

The current projection is for Tomas to gradually strengthen into a hurricane over the next couple of days while gradually turning towards the west-northwest and then northwest.

The system is then expected to begin moving towards Haiti by Thursday passing over the waters east of Jamaica on Friday.

There is a five to 10% chance that eastern sections of Jamaica could experience hurricane force winds as Tomas passes by.

Bands of heavy showers and thunderstorms could also start affecting the island by Friday morning.

Above-normal wave heights should also be expected over coastal areas of northern and southeastern parishes.

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Hurricane Tomas still a threat to Jamaica

By Webmin on November 1, 2010 7:19 AM No Comments

Hurricane Tomas has weakened from a Category Two to a Category One storm.

It was located near latitude 14.4 degrees north and longitude 64.9 degrees west or about 465 kilometres south southeast of San Juan Puerto Rico or about 425 kilometres west of St. Lucia yesterday evening.

It is moving toward the west near 19 kilometres per hour.

This general motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days.

In its latest update, the Met Office said maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 120 kilometres an hour with higher gusts.

The Met Office forecast that Tomas could weaken into a Tropical Storm over the next 24 hours followed by little change in strength Monday night and Tuesday.

However, the Met Office warned that Hurricane Tomas still has the potential to become a significant threat to weather conditions over Jamaica and its territorial waters over the next few days.

At the same time, the Met Office has advised fishers on the cays and banks to complete their preparations and be on alert to evacuate.

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