BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – Tropical Storm Don – the first of the season - has downgraded as it slowly passed through the Southern Caribbean yesterday (Jul. 18).
SKNVibes has learnt that it has been downgraded to a Trough System early last evening when planes from United Stated-based National Hurricane Center flew over the then Tropical Storm.
Don had caused disruptions in several islands within the Southern Caribbean chain, such as yesterday’s closure of the Argyle International Airport in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, while citizens and residents of Grenada were bracing for the possible impact of the storm and rainfall.
In Trinidad and Tobago, officials there dealt with severe rainfall which resulted in the flooding of several areas.
The former Tropical Storm had also caused major disruptions in flights to the southern corridor of the Caribbean, with LIAT cancelling flights into and out of Guyana, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Over 20 flights were disrupted yesterday.
SKNVibes learnt that the airports in Guyana were closed to regional and international flights.
LIAT, in a statement today (Jul. 19), said: “LIAT wishes to advise that that it has started operations to stations that were closed due to the passage of Tropical Storm Don. The office at St. Vincent has reopened and flights which are scheduled for today will operate as normal. The operations at Grenada are scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. Passengers are reminded that check-in starts two hours before scheduled departure and closes 45 minutes before scheduled departure.”
Meanwhile, the trough system is expected to continue to dump large amounts of rainfall to Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago
All eyes remain on another disturbance in the Cape Verde Region, which has a 30% chance of Cyclone Development in the next 48 hours, according to the National Hurricane Center.
“An elongated low-pressure area located about midway between the Cabo Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles is producing a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Some gradual development of this system is possible during the next day or two while it moves toward the west-northwest or northwest at 0 to 15 mph. After that time, environmental conditions are forecast to become unfavourable for development.”
The Center indicated that formation chance through 48 hours is “low 30 percent”, while chances through five days also remain “low 30 percent”.
