Tropical Storm Danny to make landfall today along Caribbean Islands

TWC has been reporting sustained, substantial drought in Puerto Rico this season, so locals are expecting Tropical Storm Danny to deliver some much-missed and needed moisture to the island.

As of the 5 PM Friday update from the National Hurricane Center, Danny had maximum sustained winds of 115 miles an hour with higher gusts.

Tropical Storm Warnings and Watches have been issued several Leeward Islands. Currently, the National Hurricane Center believes there is a 60 percent chance of tropical development over the next five days. A tropical storm watch will likely be posted for the Leeward Islands and the Virgin Islands Saturday afternoon, but it is still more than 700 miles from land. That means tropical storm conditions are possible in those areas within 48 hours.

Danny is expected to produce 2 to 4 inches of rain over the Leeward Islands, the US and British Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico through Tuesday. The mountainous Greater Antilles will also have a field day in breaking Danny up. U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp said officials were distributing sandbags and had opened shelters as a precaution.

A tropical wave (# 3) off the west coast of Africa may develop slightly as it moves westward the next few days.

But the U.S. Virgin Islands will be right in the crosshairs of the deluge. The hurricane is expected to weaken further over the next forty-eight hours. Forecast tracks show Danny continuing to weaken by the time it reaches Puerto Rico on Tuesday, and Haiti and the Dominican Republic by Wednesday.

Even with El Nino developing, which tends to greatly reduce the number of Atlantic hurricanes, it only takes one big event to make it a “bad” hurricane year.

Danny can thank “winds aloft” from El Niño, the Pacific Ocean weather system whose high-elevations winds are knocking the lid off the storm and not allowing it to form into a more powerful hurricane.