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Wed Oct 16, 2:50 PM ET
HAVANA - A tropical depression brought rains and gusty winds to
south-central Cuba on Wednesday, but forecasters said the system was unlikely to
strengthen during the day as it approached the Bahamas.
The weather system stretched out and regrouped over Cuba's southern coast by
Wednesday afternoon, but overall the effects have been mild, said Jose Rubiera,
director of Cuba's Meteorology Institute.
"Now, the system doesn't even deserve to be called a depression,"
Rubiera said.
With 35-mph winds (55 kph) and higher gusts, the depression was expected to
continue moving northeast and arrive in the central Bahamas by Thursday morning,
according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
"It's just a rainmaker," said Lixion Avila, a hurricane forecaster
at the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
As of 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), Tropical Depression 14 was about 30 miles (45
kilometers) south of Cienfuegos, Cuba, moving northeast at about 8 mph (13 kph).
Forecasters predicted heavy surf and up to six inches (15 centimeters) of
rain.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for the central Cuban provinces of
Cienfuegos, Villa Clara, Sancti Spiritus and Ciego de Avila.
The Bahamas also issued a storm warning for the islands of Andros, Berry,
Eleuthera, New Providence, Cat Island, the Exumas, Long Island, Rum Cay and San
Salvador.
"The warnings are only a precaution," said Bahamian meteorologist
Basil Dean. "We are certainly going to get a lot of rain and a lot of wind,
but nothing more."
A few schools in the Bahamas closed early Wednesday morning, and some
companies were closed. But many were still walking along sunny streets in
downtown Nassau, the capital.
"There can't be a storm coming," said Charlene Bossier of
Hartford, Connecticut. "The weather is too nice for a storm to be coming."
The depression passed just west of the Cayman Islands on Tuesday, but there
were no reports of damage or flooding.
On the Net:
U.S. National Hurricane Center:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov | 
