Tropical depression brings threat of flooding and landslides to Cuba by Kaye Forster
Following on from yesterday’s article, the tropical depression which formed in the Caribbean Sea on Saturday has gained pace and is heading north towards Florida.
The tropical depression is the first since the Atlantic hurricane season began 10 days ago. However, forecasters from the National Hurricane are not expecting it to increase to hurricane strength.
Currently situated over the eastern Gulf of Mexico the depression’s current wind speeds are around 35mph. If the winds reach 39mph, the depression will become a tropical storm and given the name Alberto. This will then become the first named storm of the season and will be one of the 16 named storms expected this year.
Forecasters are expecting the depression to strengthen into a storm later today, however it’s centre is poorly organised so it is not expected to become a hurricane (wind speed over 74mph).
The main threat from the storm is the amount of rainfall rather than the strength of the winds. The depression is expected to produce 500 to 750mm (20 to 30 inches) across the western half of Cuba. Flash flooding and landslides are expected here. However 100-200mm (4 to 8 inches) are expected by the time the depression reaches Florida on Monday.
Up to 16 named tropical storms and 10 hurricanes are predicted this season so watch this space for further updates over the next few months.
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