Aug. 17, 2007 – The territory should start to see the effects of Hurricane Dean late Friday afternoon, meteorologist Orlando Bermudez at the National Weather Service in San Juan said early Friday morning.
"You'll see tropical storm winds with higher gusts," he said.
Tropical storm force winds range from 39 to 73 miles per hour at the ocean's surface.
A tropical storm warning was posted for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands late Thursday night. This means that a tropical storm is expected within 24 hours.
Bermudez said Dean is currently on a track pass 160 miles south of St. Croix at 8 p.m. Friday as a Category 2 hurricane.
Tropical storm force winds extend outward 140 miles from the center, making it a very close call.
"That's why we have the warning," Bermudez said.
He said the entire territory should see one to two inches of rain, with five inches falling at higher elevations.
Bermudez said seas will build to 10 to 14 feet, with east northeast swells throughout the day Friday changing to southeast swells Friday night.
Small craft advisories are posted.
The territory is on a coastal flood watch through Saturday.
Bermudez said the hurricane should exit the area by Saturday morning, but the territory will still see some more rain.
As of 8 a.m., Dean was centered 50 miles west-southwest of Martinique. The Category 2 hurricane was centered at 14.4 degrees north latitude and 61.7 degrees west longitude, or about 210 miles east-northeast of Barbados and about 305 miles east of Martinique.
Winds are at 100 mph with gusts to 120 mph. Hurricane force winds extend out 25 miles from the center.
It's moving to the west at 23 mph.
The barometric pressure stands at 970 millibars or 28.63 inches.
Choice Communications announced early Friday morning that its retail locations will be closed Saturday and could close early Friday depending upon the weather. However, the statement from the communications company said, "Our operations of Cable TV, Broadband (High Speed) and dial-up Internet will remain fully functional and we will have emergency crews on standby in case of any failure … to insure that all Virgin Islanders have the vital information needed to keep informed during these possibly dangerous times."
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