Tropical Storm Fiona expected to pass well north of territory
Published: September 1, 2010
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Forecasters Tuesday night did not anticipate that Tropical Storm Fiona would impact the territory but advised keeping a watchful eye on tropical systems that may develop while hurricane season is peaking.
The National Hurricane Center forecast Tuesday night had Fiona passing well to the north of the territory.
Walter Snell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Juan, said the winds in the territory today are expected to be fairly light, with very little rain from Fiona.
By midday today, the center of Fiona should take its closest swipe at the territory about 120 miles to the northeast of St. John, Snell said, although he cautioned that unexpected things can happen, and residents should keep a close eye out.
At 11 p.m. Tuesday, Fiona was about 260 miles east-southeast of the northern Leeward Islands, moving to the west-northwest around 20 mph, with a turn toward the northwest expected, according to the Hurricane Center. Maximum sustained winds were 40 mph, and tropical storm force winds extended out from the center up to 140 miles.
Little change in strength was expected.
As Earl passed by Monday and Tuesday, the recorded wind speed on St. Thomas peaked at 69 mph around 5:50 p.m. Monday, Snell said. On Tuesday, the peak wind speed recorded was 45 mph at 12:31 a.m., he said.
St. Thomas recorded 3.02 inches of rain in the storm, he said.
On St. Croix, the peak recorded wind speed was 49 mph Monday, which occurred around 3:20 p.m., and on Tuesday, the wind-speed peaked at 35 mph shortly after midnight, Snell said. St. Croix had almost 2 inches of rain, he said.
He did not have wind-speed or rainfall information for St. John.
— Contact Joy Blackburn at 774-8772 ext. 455 or e-mail jblackburn@dailynews.vi
