Tropical Storm — Eastern Interior, Puerto Rico

2024-08-14 · Eastern Interior, Puerto Rico

Event narrative

The 911 call center reported a fallen tree at Pr-185 in Naranajito, affecting most of the road. The estimated wind gust was 40 mph.

Wider weather episode

The islands of Puerto Rico were under a Tropical Storm Warning due to the tropical cyclone threats associated with Ernesto. Ernesto approached the islands late Tuesday night into Wednesday as a tropical storm intensified into a hurricane across the Atlantic Ocean north of the islands on the 14th at around 11 AM AST. Before the event unfolded, soils were saturated along many of western Puerto Rico, the San Juan metropolitan area, the southeast, and Vieques and Culebra. The 30-day rainfall surplus was 4 to 8 inches above normal before Ernesto. Additionally, many streams were running normal or above normal.

The first rainbands associated with the tropical storm arrived on Tuesday under a northeasterly wind flow. During the night hours of Tuesday, the first strong area of rainfall approached eastern Puerto Rico. The system quickly dumped over four inches of rainfall across Vieques and Culebra. The rain then reached eastern Puerto Rico, with areas around Maunabo collecting over three inches in a short period of time. This rainfall triggered flash flooding, and rivers quickly reacted.

Strong gusty winds were observed as the hurricane's outer rainbands moved over the islands. In Puerto Rico, the strongest gust was 86 mph on Isla Culebrita, Culebra. The Roosevelt Road weather station also reported sustained tropical storm force winds, with a 74-mph gust, marking the 8th strong reading at this station. Reports included fallen trees, downed power lines, and some roof damage.

Ernesto brought significant flooding, along with tropical storm-force sustained winds and hurricane-force wind gusts, which caused substantial damage across Puerto Rico. More than 125 Local Storm Reports have been generated. Nearly 65% were associated with wind gust damage and tropical cyclone conditions, while 32% were associated with flooding and landslides. The power grid was affected by the tropical-force winds and heavy rains. The agricultors estimated millions of dollars in losses. The initial estimates for the damages caused by Ernesto are approximately 5 million dollars.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1214557. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.