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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesRain Clears, More on the Way

Rain Clears, More on the Way

While the territory will see only passing showers over the next few days, more rain is on the way.
“Probably not the same amount of rainfall as this weekend,” National Weather Service meteorologist Shawn Rossi said from his San Juan office.
That rain should start late Wednesday and last into Thursday, Rossi said. As for the weekend’s rainfall, it set records. National Weather Service data shows that at Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas, 2.71 inches of rain fell Saturday, besting the previous record of .51 inches set in 1990. On Sunday, the airport received 3.02 inches of rain, more than the 1993 record of 2.45 inches.
In Christiansted, 3.94 inches of rain fell on Sunday, which broke the record of .62 inches of rain set in 1993.
The weekend also broke the three-day accumulation records. On St. Thomas, 7.85 inches of rain fell from Friday through Sunday. The old record, set in 1983, stood at 4.76 inches.
On St. Croix, the three-day record hit 4.65 inches of rain. The old record, set in 1987, was 3.91 inches.
At Weather Station Zephyr, located at Ajax Peak, St. John., 1.29 inches of rain fell Sunday. Saturday saw .41 inches and Friday, .55 inches.
The total so far for the month of June at Weather Station Zephyr stands at 3.28 inches. In 2009, 4.13 inches of rain fell in the entire month of June. The monthly total for June 2008 is 0.27 inches. In 2007, the total was 1.60 inches. In 2006, the total stood at 1.1 inches, and in 2005, the total hit 1.09 inches.
The rainy weather also set record cool temperatures. St. Thomas saw a record cool of 83 degrees Saturday and 82 degrees Sunday. The previous record for Saturday was 85 degrees and set in 2009. The previous Sunday record of 84 degrees was set in 1987.
While the rains caused some cancellations, V.I. Territorial Emergency Management Head Mark Walters said the only problem was localized flooding.
“The areas that typically flood,” he said.
At 9:30 a.m. Monday, he said that Public Works Department crews were in the midst of cleaning up the areas.
There were no reports of major damage on any of the three islands, Walters said.
The rainy weekend cause cancelation of Frenchtown’s Father’s Day weekend celebration.
“We were able to get through the official ceremony, which saw the crowning of Miss Carenage Dellanna Magner, before the rains came on Friday night,” Gail Danet-Joseph, chair of the weekend celebration on St. Thomas, said.
Rains late Saturday night forced the postponement of one of the bands, and Sunday’s weather made it impossible for any activities to be held.
“We were thinking of going into Monday but when the weather made it impossible for any activity at all on Sunday, we decided to simply cancel all plans for this weekend,” Danet-Joseph said.
As a result, the committee postponed the drawing of its 50/50 raffle and the awarding of prizes to winners in the previously-held fishing tournaments.
“The Committee is exploring options to hold either a two- or three-day weekend event in July at which time the prizes will be awarded. The public will be informed as to our plans once they are finalized,” she said.

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