Hurricane Thomas Tags Haiti
Count Haitians with a little bit of luck. Hurricane Thomas didn’t directly hit the country, it slid between Haiti and Cuba, sparing both from Hurricane winds. There is a lot of rain, but more like 1/2 to 3/4 inch per hour. According to Weather Underground it could have been worse:
Hurricane force winds extend outwards only 15 miles to the east of Tomas’ center, and only the extreme tips of Haiti’s southwest and northwest peninsulas will receive hurricane force winds. Tropical storm force winds of 39+ mph extend out about 140 miles to the east, and Tomas will pass far enough from the Port-au-Prince earthquake zone that winds there will not exceed 30 - 35 mph. However, the northern Haitian city of Gonaives will receive 40 - 45 mph winds this afternoon and this evening, as will the eastern tip of Cuba. Rainfall is the primary concern from Tomas, though, not wind. Satellite estimates (Figure 1) indicate that Tomas has already dumped up to 6 inches of rain on Haiti’s southwest peninsula, and 3 inches in the Port-au-Prince earthquake zone. Recent microwave imagery (Figure 2) shows that while the heaviest rains from Tomas lie in the west eyewall and will miss Haiti, a long band of heavy rain with rainfall rates of 1/2″ - 3/4″ per hour lies to the southwest of Port-au-Prince and Gonaives, the two most vulnerable cities in Haiti to catastrophic flooding.
Tags: Hurricane Thomas Haiti
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment