USVI-On-Line

From the St. Thomas Source:

"Oct. 12, 2008 - Look for a "deluge of bad weather" to stick around until at least to mid-week or maybe even to the end of the week. Or the rainy weather might become a tropical depression, Brian Seeley, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in San Juan, said Sunday.
"It's going to be a very active weather pattern," he said.
The problem is a tropical wave sticking around over the territory. It's moving very slowly north, with a circulation trying to form on the western edge of the wave. If it's successful, that circulation could become a tropical depression."

http://www.onepaper.com/stthomasvi/?p=1222834277

Yes... the rain...it's here. I was in La Tapa last night and they had to pull all of the outside and semi outside seating AND shut the shutter doors to keep the inside dry. Just started to pour again now....I have a feeling that there is going to be a lot of excessive drinking at the bars in the next few days. (that is what we do when in rains here)

I've been watching this thing develop. It's a slow mover so copious amounts of rain can be expected but, hopefully the winds will not be too high.

The weather site www.weathercarib.com gives some rather colorful loops of satellite pics
Especially the " next weather for Eastern Caribbean LOOP "

It looks like we left just as this system started moving in. Saturday was pretty cloudy with wind/rain off and on. Sunday morning the wind was blowing so hard we had to stack the porch furniture against the house and close the sliders on the windward side of the house. Must have been 40mph gusts on Maria Bluff! Rain was blowing sideways into the house! It was fun to watch though.

Thankfully, it looks like Nana will move off to the north.

The national hurricane center has just upgraded this storm to Tropical Depression 15 and could be a tropical storm by later today. They have the projected path going northeast right between us and PR. Yikes!

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Our first "couples trip" to St. John (5 couples--all good friends) was November 7-14, 2003. Depending on which report you believe, it rained anywhere from 15 to 22 inches that week. It was not your typical week in St. John, and I don't really want to repeat it, but it was probably our most memorable trip. The bars were jammed. LOTS of bonding time at Woody's and the BB with the rain pounding on the roof.

I was there that same week - there were 6 couples and we did just about everything in the rain! Swimming while drinking was a challenge - had to have a hat with a bill (or wide brim)on it so as not to dilute the good stuff!

kklay wrote: Swimming while drinking was a challenge - had to have a hat with a bill (or wide brim)on it so as not to dilute the good stuff!

That, right there, is why God invented the sippy cup.

And you thought it was for your kids!

Our first "couples trip" to St. John (5 couples--all good friends) was November 7-14, 2003. Depending on which report you believe, it rained anywhere from 15 to 22 inches that week. It was not your typical week in St. John, and I don't really want to repeat it, but it was probably our most memorable trip. The bars were jammed. LOTS of bonding time at Woody's and the BB with the rain pounding on the roof.

OMG we were there during that time too. We do always talk about that trip too, but would never want to relive it! Trees were down...lost power...roads closed...mud slides. We were by Love City market and actually saw a car floating down the road. We stayed on the Coral Bay side and saw damage. I actually cut out some news paper articles about the weather and put them in my photo album.

We were down there a few weeks later - Dec 7 - 14th. I remember reading the forum and looking at the pictures in horror. We had visions of our vacation being ruined by washed out roads and ruined beaches. I took some pictures of the damage that was left on the shoreline in Cinnamon Bay. The picture I remember most is the car floating down the road. I forget who posted that picture. We were relieved when we arrived to find that the island was basically sound and still holding up. That was a great trip, we went to Little Lameshur Bay, and due to the storm, the road was almost impassable, but we made it and got back. We were told that it wasn't usually that bad. I hope not! Thank goodness for 4-wheel drive vehicles.

We too were there that week in 2003. Seeing this post brought back some of those memories. Our first trip to St John and we were getting married, yikes!
We quickly learned not to be bothered in the least by forecasts for rain after that trip. We bumped the wedding a day in hopes it might clear. So now we celebrate the 12 and the 13th.
Despite the weather, we fell in love with the island. We met some great people and had quite a story to tell when we got home. I wouldn't do it any differently, well maybe make it to the beach!
Hope this storm is a little kinder.