At 5PM Tomas will be centered about 100 miles southeast of Kingston, Jamaica near 16.8N/76.0W. Tomas is moving to the north at 6-8 mph. Maximum winds are near 50 mph. Southwesterly wind shear continues to impact Tomas, driving most of Tomas’ squalls to the northeast and east of the center and leaving very few squalls and decreased wind west of the center.
With at least light to moderate southwesterly wind shear impacting Tomas, Forecasters do not expect the storm to regain hurricane intensity over the next 24-48 hours. Since wind shear will be increasing beyond 48 hours, Forecasters predict gradual weakening as Tomas moves northward along the cold front and is either torn apart by wind shear or merges with the much larger winter storm center over New England.
Regardless of the intensity, heavy squalls will spread across Haiti and the western Dominican Republic this evening and persist for 24-36 hours. Squalls from Tomas will reach the eastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands on Friday and continue until noon Saturday. As the system gradually moves northward there is a possibility for some of the rain bands to affect the Virgin Islands. At present no wide spread rainfall has been forecast except that some squalls maybe heavy at times.
Residents are still asked to monitor the system as moves north since forecast can change within a matter of hours. The Department of Disaster Management will continue to monitor the Storm and provide updates where necessary. Please visit the DDM’s website at www.bviddm.com for further information.
Disclaimer: The Department of Disaster Management (DDM) is not an official Meteorological Office. The Information disseminated by the Department is gathered from a number of professional sources used or contracted by the DDM to provide such information. This information is to be used as a guide by anyone who has interest in local weather conditions. By no means can the DDM or the BVI Government be held accountable by anyone who uses this information appropriately for legal evidence or in justification of any decision which may result in the loss of finances, property or life