Hurricane (Typhoon) — St. Croix, Virgin Islands

1999-11-16 to 1999-11-18 · St. Croix, Virgin Islands

Wider weather episode

Hurrican Lenny evolved from a tropical depression over the western Caribbean on Saturday November 13, 1999. The storm strengthened to a hurricane the evening of November 14 while moving on an unusual track to the east. At 500 pm on Monday November 15 a hurricane watch was issued for all the U.S. Virgin Islands. The forecast track during that time showed Hurricane Lenny moving across Puerto Rico Wednesday afternoon. At 1100 pm the watch was upgraded to a warning. By Tuesday afternoon, Lenny was located about 240 miles southwest of Puerto Rico and the first rainbands began to affect the islands. During Tuesday night and most of Wednesday, Lenny continued to move east-northeast and by Wednesday afternoon Lenny was just 20 miles south of St. Croix. Later that evening it became nearly stationary at about 50 miles east of St. Croix until Thursday afternoon where it began to weaken and move to the northeast away from the local region. By that time, all the watches and warnings for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands had been discontinued. St. Croix suffered most of the damage. Large battering waves and the sea surge produced extensive beach erosion and coastal flooding along the west coast of St. Croix. Widespread flooding occurred around the island. Some sectors in St. Croix received between 5 to 8 inches of rain from Tuesday through Thursday. Hurricane force winds caused roofs and window damage and downed power lines and poles. In addition many boats sunk or washed ashore. Official reports from St. Croix Airport indicated maximum sustained winds of 69 mph on November 18 and maximum peak gusts of 92 mph on November 17. At St. Thomas airport, the maximum sustained wind was 53 mph on November 17 and a maximum wind gust of 70 mph was reported on November 18. An unofficial observer at Maria Hill in St. Croix reported maximum sustained winds of 83 mph with wind gust to 112 mph on Novermber 17. Damage in St. Thomas was minimal, limited to spot flooding, mud and gravel on the roads and mudslides in the mountains. The Virgin Islands National Park in St. John suffered between 1.6 million to 2.2 million dollars worth of damage.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5720166. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.