[UPDATED] More heavy showers expected today

MORE heavy rains are expected this afternoon, much the same as yesterday, according to the Meteorological Office at Piarco.

Localised weather, caused by early-morning heat combined with wind,caused the heavy showers experienced just after noon yesterday.

After less than two hours of rain, South Quay, Port of Spain, was one with the sea as the roads were completely under water. The water backed all the way up to Independence Square and down to the Waterfront.

There are times when the Met Office can be wrong when forecasting the weather, but this was not one of them.

Duty meteorologist Gary Benjamin said the Met Office had forecast the exact weather experienced in Port of Spain and environs.

“We did forecast that we would have a mostly sunny day and there would be a few showers in a few areas, and a 40-60 per cent chance of a heavy shower or thundershower during the afternoon. We also narrowed it down to favouring western Trinidad, but it doesn’t mean that it is going to happen elsewhere. We also said that in the event of a heavy shower or thunderstorm, winds can become gusty and street and flash flooding can occur.”

Benjamin said the heavy rains were basically localised weather and not affiliated with any storm.

“We expected a lot of heating and by the way the wind regime has set up, we were expecting that thundershowers would develop, especially in western areas of Trinidad.”

Last night was expected to be mostly settled and mostly fair but with a few showers in some areas.

He said the weather today will be similar to yesterday’s with expected the sunny conditions. He added if the wind regime remained the same with the heating, which was fairly light wind at this time, there was a medium chance of thundershowers.

He said people should keep their umbrellas in order, as this was the rainy season.

Contacted yesterday, Port of Spain mayor Joel Martinez said he did not expect to see the extent of flooding that took place in the city yesterday. The drains at City Gate were recently upgraded to deal with the overflow and the surrounding areas and drains were cleaned to prevent just this.

“No, no, you are not supposed to expect that.

“I am going to investigate as to why the situation turned out to be like that and I will respond to you.

“But I was not expecting any rainfall to be so adverse that it would have filled the area. I will find out what caused that, if there is a blockage somewhere.”

Martinez said one had to be mindful that people sometimes dropped garbage in the drains.

“Remember (Transport Minister) Minister (Rohan) Sinanan, when we were opening the drain, he indicated to us that people indiscriminately, in the night, go and drop things into the manholes, like debris and drums and things like that. So we have to be mindful of that. But I will investigate and respond to you then.”

This story was originally published with the title "More rain tomorrow" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

More heavy rain is expected tomorrow afternoon, much the same as today, according to the Meteorological Office.

Localised weather, caused by early-morning heat combined with the wind, caused the heavy showers experienced just after noon today.

After less than two hours' rain in Port of Spain, South Quay was one with the sea, as the roads were completely under water. It backed all the way up to Independence Square and down to the Waterfront.

People are advised to keep their umbrellas handy tomorrow.