Met Office: Rain on the way

File photo of ladies sharing an umbrella as they shelter the rain on Frederick Street, Port of Spain.  - Ayanna Kinsale
File photo of ladies sharing an umbrella as they shelter the rain on Frederick Street, Port of Spain. - Ayanna Kinsale

Walk with your umbrellas, as heavy, intermittent rain is expected for the next two days during the passage of a weak tropical wave.

Meteorologist Oscar Lovell explained these are normal rainy season conditions and there was no need for panic.

He told Newsday on Tuesday afternoon, “It is expected to continue today (Tuesday) into tomorrow (Wednesday). It is the passage of a weak tropical wave that is interacting with the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).

“This is the reason for the partly cloudy conditions, more so over Trinidad, with intermittent showers, with some becoming moderate to heavy, and we have had the odd thundershower as well.”

Lovell said with heavy rain, there has always been the possibility of flash flooding and urged the necessary precautions and preventative measures.

“We expect any accumulation of water to run off quickly.

“It is nothing for them (the public) to be too alarmed about, It is normally what we experience during this time of the year,” Lovell said.

He added the Met Office was also monitoring the development of a weather pattern about midway between the west coast of Africa and the Lesser Antilles, which was also normal during the hurricane season

Lovell said the system poses no threat to TT, but that might change as it moves closer to the Caribbean.

“That system is currently flagged by the (US) National Hurricane Center as a 90 per cent chance for development over the next three to five days. Any development of that system is going to be very slow.

“Models are suggesting that as the system approaches it is going to come into an area of unfavourable conditions, which is most likely going to result in the system not being as strong and not of serious concerns to the islands.”

Lovell said the forecast was made at an early stage in the development of the tropical depression and was subject to change.

“The system is expected to affect the southern Leeward islands and the Winward islands between Saturday and Sunday,” he said.

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) said there were no reports of severe flooding. It noted, however, that there were mild floodwaters across some roads in north and west Trinidad, but this was normal for the type of rainfall being experienced.

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"Met Office: Rain on the way"

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