Hurricane Dean

Here on Anguilla we have been watching the progress of Tropical Storm Dean as it worked its way towards the Leeward Islands.

Over the past few days we have watched the forecasts and have been preparing to batten down the hatches as it was at first thought that we were directly in its path. Yesterday though, the storm veered slightly and is now on its way towards Jamaica, via Antigua. Its intensity has increased and it is now officially a hurricane.

Tomorrow morning at about 8am the storm should hit land. As we are the northern most island in the Leeward chain, we will be lucky. We are on Tropical Storm Warning rather than Hurricane Alert. The forecasts predict we will have about a 40% chance of winds of more than 39 miles per hour hitting us. Those on Hurricane Alert will face winds of more than 73 miles per hour.

The American National Hurricane Centre site offers excellent information on this storm for those of you interested in keeping up with it:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/144524.shtml?3day#contents

At present there is a little breeze ruffling the trees and bushes in my garden, which is quite refreshing, but it is 91°F and the clouds are starting to gather.

I will keep you posted as to how we get on….