Tropical Storm Ana weakened Sunday afternoon into a tropical depression, but still will bring rain to the Virgin Islands starting Sunday night into Monday. The depression’s forward rain bands were felt across the territory by early Sunday night.
Forecasters expect Tropical Depression Ana to pass 85 miles south of St. Croix and about 130 miles south of St. Thomas and St. John around midmorning Monday.
However, the territory remained on a tropical-storm watch.
"It’s more like a preventative," said meteorologist Rafael Mojica at the National Weather Service in San Juan on Sunday night. Mojica expects one to three inches of rain to fall, depending on location.
Ana was a depression until Thursday, when it fizzled. The weather system sprang back to life Friday night, becoming a tropical storm Saturday morning and a tropical depression again Sunday afternoon. Mojica said this happened because the storm is moving too fast to become organized. Additionally, Ana hit dry air.
As of the 8 p.m. Sunday update from the National Hurricane Center, Tropical Storm Ana was centered at 15.2 degrees north latitude and 60 degrees west longitude. Winds are just 4 mph under tropical storm strength at 35 mph, with higher gusts. The barometric pressure stands at 1,008 millibars, or 29.77 inches. It was moving west at 25 mph. Ana was located about 85 miles east of Dominica.
Then there’s Tropical Storm Bill, now located 1,440 miles east of the Lesser Antilles. It’s on track to go about 330 miles northeast of the territory on Thursday as a Category 3 hurricane.
"You could very well feel some outer bands," Mojica said.
As of the 5 p.m. update, Tropical Storm Bill was centered at 12.8 degrees north latitude and 40 degrees west longitude. Winds are at 65 mph, with gusts to 75 mph. The barometric pressure stands at 994 millibars, or 29.34 inches. It was moving west northwest at 16 mph. Forecasters think Bill will become a hurricane later Sunday or Monday.
And that disturbance far out in the Atlantic? Mojica said the convection weakened Sunday afternoon. He said it now looks like it will head through the region as a tropical wave next weekend.
