By Jay Amberg Bloomberg.com. Wed, 23 Aug 2000, 11:27am EDT
Miami, Aug. 22 -- A slow start to the Atlantic Basin hurricane season, which began June 1, is heating up and Hurricane Debby, the season's second hurricane, could bring some much needed rain to eastern Cuba.
Today, Hurricane Debby was moving through the northern Leeward Islands and heading toward the U.S. Virgin Islands.
A hurricane watch is in effect for the southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands and for northern Haiti, north of Port Au Prince, the capital.
Hurricane warnings are in effect for the Leeward Islands from Anguilla and St. Eustatius westward through the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and for the north coast of the Dominican Republic.
This morning, Hurricane Debby was located about 65 miles east-southeast of the British Virgin Islands, with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles an hour, just above the hurricane threshold of 74 mph.
Rainfall totals of 4-6 inches and higher amounts over mountainous regions, are expected in the direct path of the storm.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said computer models they use in forecasting the future direction of tropical storms and hurricanes aren't in agreement over the track of Hurricane Debby.
Two computer models, the NOGAPS and AVN, take Debby on a more westerly course over the island of Hispaniola (Haiti- Dominican Republic) and Cuba, then into the Gulf of Mexico.
Another popular model, the UKMET, takes Hurricane Debby on a more northerly course through the central and eastern Bahamas, while the GDL and GFDN computer models suggest a more northerly track followed by a westward motion later this week.
The Hurricane Center said strengthening of Debby in the next 24-36 hours would be slow and unsteady because the storm is expected to be over land. Hurricanes frequently gain strength when they are over warm water.
Hurricane forecasters in Miami said the conditions necessary for Debby to strengthen could occur if the hurricane doesn't linger over Hispaniola, where the high mountains could sap some of its strength.
If the storm's track takes it over eastern Cuba, the hurricane could bring some much-needed rain to eastern Cuba, where drought conditions have caused significant losses of crops and livestock.
Since winter, Cuba's eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Guantanamo, Granma and Holguin have been battling a drought that has killed tobacco and coffee crops and thousands of head of cattle.
News reports from the region indicate that local reservoirs are at about 10 percent of capacity and could run dry unless significant precipitation falls within the next month or two.
The premium cigar industry, which was spared significant weather disruptions during the 1992-97 boom in sales, was wracked by two powerful storms in 1998.
In September, Hurricane Georges wrecked havoc in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.
Caribbean cigar manufacturers and tobacco farmers were dealt a second blow in November when Hurricane Mitch roared ashore in the western Caribbean.
At its worst, Hurricane Mitch had winds exceeding 155 miles per hour. Making a landfall in Honduras and Nicaragua, Hurricane Mitch dumped about 6 inches of rain in a 48-hour period over the two countries, killing more than 12,000 people and leaving thousands missing.
The Atlantic Basin includes the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Equator.
A storm is given a name by the Miami-based National Hurricane Center when the winds in a tropical depression reach 39 miles per hour.
Intense, or severe storms reach Category 3-4-5 on the Saffir Simpson Scale, a means of measuring hurricanes from 1 through 5, with 1 being the least destructive and 5 causing catastrophic damage.
©2000 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Terms | 