Tropical Storm Rafael a no-show

Coconuts · Post by **Coconuts** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 7:21 am

Tropical Storm Rafael proved to be a complete no-show, at least as far as St. John is concerned. At Logan Airport in Boston Saturday morning, word spread that the Coast Guard had shut down ferry traffic at 8 AM, and the 8AM track updates had shifted to passing directly over the VI. I was wearing rain gear for the soaking we expected to encounter on deplaning (assuming that the flight wasn't re-routed to San Juan or Miami), and had The Doors' "Riders on the Storm" queued up to play as we battled our way down to the tarmac. While we were in the air, though, the storm made a sudden hard right turn of well over a degree, with its track now well east of the VI, and it also slowed down, with the closest approach to occur early on Sunday morning. We landed a little after 1 PM to sunny skies, 86 degrees, the slightest of breezes, calm seas, and a now very out of place and hot rain slicker.

The ferry ride over was very calm, with no swells. We were excited to get back to Coconuts, and check out the improvements since our last visit. All of our deck furniture had been stowed indoors in preparation for the impending storm. I don't know if it had anything to do with TS Rafael, but the sunset was fantastic; I have attached a panorama that I made by stitching together three shots from the decks at Coconuts. If I had had the presence of mind to include a fourth shot from the hammock deck, French Cap would have shown up. If you zoom in the image, Vieques can be seen wide and flat on the horizon behind Great St. James, and that is Culebra in the notch to the left of a hill on St. Thomas. The air wasn't clear enough Saturday to see El Yunque, in Puerto Rico (65 miles away).

We headed down to town for chicken and ribs at Uncle Joe's BBQ. Starfish Market had closed at 4 PM, "due to the inclement weather". The residents of Cruz Bay were clearly terror-stricken, and did their best to cope by cranking up the reggae at Cap's Place, and fortifying themselves with Carib and Red Stripe. We headed back up to a lovely star-filled sky. Around 11 PM, the stars could no longer be seen, but the breeze was still bog-standard for Gifft Hill, and not a drop of rain had yet fallen. I set out a coffee mug on deck to record the soaking still presumed for the early Sunday approach, but just awoke to find little in it other than a trace of morning dew. The sky is a mix of clouds and blue this Sunday morning; the sun is shining, and we have a mild and typical breeze. Given that the storm is going to pick up speed as it continues north, today should be a fine day, with what we hope to be another gorgeous sunset.

2012 has been well below average on rainfall, so on one level all the cisterns could have used a healthy soaking, but it is what it is. It's important to take storm warnings seriously, but this one was a total no-show. The bulk of the rain bands and energy had always been to the east of the core, so when that turned and headed well east of the VI, the whole thing slipped quietly by in the night. My storm reporting career has proven to be a bit of a dud. Oh, and it is BOUND to rain heavily sometime in the next two weeks, and I for one will be fully prepared in my yellow rain slicker!

All the best,
Kevin

Panorama of sunset Saturday evening:

Track of TS Rafael, with jog:

Randy in MD · Post by **Randy in MD** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 8:14 am

So nice to awake to such good news...

And what a beautiful panorama of last night's sunset...

Thanks, Kevin!

CT Beach Girls Dad · Post by **CT Beach Girls Dad** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 9:50 am

Hey Kevin
The family and I cant wait to see that sunset in person from your Villa over Chirstmas --- new Years
John

mnfun2bme · Post by **mnfun2bme** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 10:01 am

Thanks for the update, Kevin.
Beautiful shot for sure.
The cisterns will have to wait a bit longer.

Post by **Anthony** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 10:57 am

Wow what a photo - thanks Kevin! And glad to see you got that working here - sorry if I wasn't much help. Can I put that photo on the tumblr blog??? http://vionline.tumblr.com/

News of St. John · Post by **News of St. John** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 11:26 am

That picture is unbelievable. Only 71 days until I see it for myself!

lprof · Post by **lprof** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 12:11 pm

Wow! That is one gorgeous sunset! Thanks for sharing your fantastic catch!

Coconuts · Post by **Coconuts** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 12:14 pm

Thanks for all the positive comments on the sunset panorama, and Anthony, by all means, add it to the blog!

Kevin

cocosmom · Post by **cocosmom** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 1:54 pm

Thank you for the gorgeous pic!

AquaGirl · Post by **AquaGirl** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 2:04 pm

Hi Kevin
Thanks for posting the latest news on the storm. I am happy it didn't hit STJ, although sad for the cisterns. The picture is beautiful and makes us miss Coconuts! I hope the rest of your trip is great.
B&J (guests of Coconuts in May - met you at the airport!)

Steph · Post by **Steph** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 12:35 pm

It was no problem with car ferry Sunday morning the 14th from St John to St Thomas, the problem was flights were cancelled. We had come in on Spirit the previous Sun. the 7th. We are still on our way home with a 3 leg flight today Wed the 17th. We spent the last 3 nights at the Best Western Emerald waiting for this flight. It was beautiful weather but having all ready spent a week on St. John this was not in the budget. We do have insurance, so we will wait and see what can be reimbursed. Have ran into many people in the last 3 days that are in the same position we are.

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