KINGSTON, Jamaica – Less than a week after Tropical Storm Nicole killed 13 people and caused more than US$117.4 million in damage, Jamaicans were on Thursday bracing for more rains associated with a new tropical storm.
The Meteorological Service here has warned that the formation of the sub tropical storm Otto, northeast of the Turks and Caicos Islands, could produce widespread rains on Thursday and Friday.
“Otto has induced a Trough across Jamaica, which is expected to linger across the island for the remainder of the week. Additionally, an Area of Low Pressure is still forecast to form across the southwestern Caribbean on Thursday, and this is likely to support an increase in rainfall on Thursday and Friday. Otherwise, scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to occur mainly during the afternoons though the weekend,” it said in a statement.
The Miami-based National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said that Otto was moving towards the north near two miles per hour and a turn towards the northeast and an increase in forward speed is expected by late on Thursday night.
“On the forecast track, Otto should remain well to the east of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. A faster northwest ward motion is forecast by late Friday,” it added.
NHC warned that Otto, which has maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour, could become a Tropical Storm later on Thursday and a hurricane over the next 48 hours. (CMC)
