Tropical Storm Dorian 11PM Update

A representative from the Saint Lucia Meteorological Services moments ago delivered the latest public advisory via RealFM’s ongoing radio presentation through the duration of Tropical Storm Dorian.

“The centre of Tropical Storm Dorian has just passed south of Barbados,” she said, “There’s some strength in the forecast, but we still expect it to pass us as a storm.” She roughly estimated that landfall to Saint Lucia should be between the early hours of the morning between 4 to 6 o’clock in the morning.

She further advised, “Right now people should not be doing anything, all the preparedness should have been before the storm passed, not during the storm.”

The Met Office’s latest published advisory states:

“At 11:00 pm today the center of Tropical Storm Dorian was located near latitude 13.2 degrees north, longitude 59.7 degrees west or about 95 miles or 155 kilometers east-southeast of Saint Lucia.

“Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph or 85 km/h, with higher gusts.  Slow strengthening is forecast during the next few days, and Dorian could be near hurricane strength when it approaches Puerto Rico on Wednesday.  Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles or 75 kilometers from the center.”

Previous advisories stated a 60 mph wind speed, meaning that current measurements imply a weaker storm intensity that originally anticipated. This also suggests that as of the latest update Saint Lucia is no longer under a Hurricane Watch. The US National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center said in it’s latest bulletin, “The government of St. Lucia has discontinued the Hurricane Watch for St. Lucia.”