Flash Flood — St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

2009-09-05 · near St Thomas, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

Event narrative

Flash flooding was reported along Veterans Highway close to Banco Popular building.

Wider weather episode

A tropical wave emerged from the coast of Africa on August 25th, which moved westward near the Cape Verde Islands on the 26th. The system organized as it crossed the Atlantic, developing a low pressure area by the 28th. The system became well-enough organized to be classified a tropical storm during the afternoon of September 1st. A tropical storm watch was issued for the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico at 5 pm September 2nd, followed by a tropical storm warning at 11 am on September 3rd. The system moved generally westward, and experienced moderate vertical wind shear through most of its existence as a tropical cyclone. As the surface circulation left most of the associated thunderstorms behind, the system tracked south of due west due to the low-level flow pattern Erika was embedded within. By the 3rd of September, Erika weakened into a tropical depression at 5 pm on September 3rd, and soon devolved into a remnant low during the evening. The remnant disturbance led to heavy rains over the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, which caused flooding.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (18.3376, -64.9470)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 196891. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.