UPDATE: July 9, 2pm – hurricane watch issued for Dominican Republic
Now that Tropical Storm Chantal has crossed across the Lesser Antilles and strengthened to have maximum sustained winds of 65mph, the south-east coast of the Dominican Republic is now under hurricane watch.
A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible anywhere within the warning area within 36 hours – although in this case hurricane conditions are possible within the next 24 hours.
Although most models are still predicting that Tropical Storm Chantal will be a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 70mph when she hits the Dominican Republic, ONAMET (the Dominican weather service) and weather.com are warning of the possibility of hurricane strength winds across the entire south-east coast of the country.
“Chantal is expected to track over of the Dominican Republic and Haiti Wednesday, possibly strengthening to a minimal hurricane before making landfall Wednesday morning.”
Tropical Storm Chantal, which developed on Sunday evening in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, is now located at a distance of approximately 750 miles south-east of the Dominican Republic, and is estimated to start affecting the south coast of the country within the next 24 to 30 hours – with near hurricane-strength winds. In the next 6 hours Tropical Storm Chantal will cross over the Lesser Antilles.
While the “cone of probability” is typically only 60-70% accurate, the closer Tropical Storm Chantal gets the more accurate it becomes – and at this point it looks like a direct hit is inevitable. The entire south coast of the Dominican Republic is now under a “Tropical Storm Warning”, which means now is the time to start making preparations – CLICK HERE for our advice on getting your Casa de Campo villa ready.
Here’s a summary of the facts and predictions for the next few days:
FACTS
• Tropical Storm Chantal is located 750 miles south-east of Santo Domingo and is moving north-west at a speed of 26mph (considered “very quickly” for a tropical storm).
• Tropical Storm Chantal currently has maximum sustained winds of 50mph.
• Tropical storm warnings have been issued for the entire south coast of the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (as well as the Lesser Antilles, including Barbados, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Martinique and Guadeloupe)
• Tropical storm watches have been issued for the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, Haiti and the US Virgin Islands.
PREDICTIONS
• Tropical Storm Chantal will begin to affect the southern coast of the Dominican Republic in the next 24 – 30 hours, at which point the maximum sustained wind speed is predicted to be as much as 70mph (when maximum sustained winds reach 74mph a tropical storm is considered a hurricane).
• The eye of the storm is expected to hit somewhere on the south coast of the Dominican Republic shortly after midday tomorrow (Wednesday).
• Tropical Storm Chantal is expected to cross across the Dominican Republic in a north-west direction within just 12 hours – of course tropical weather conditions (rain, wind, storms etc.) may linger a while longer.
• The Cordillera Central, the Caribbean’s highest mountain range located in the center of the Dominican Republic is expected to disrupt the circulation of Chantal and cause her to lose intensity – thus wind speeds should decrease as Tropical Storm Chantal crosses the Dominican Republic and heads north towards Cuba and Florida.
Dominican Republic WEATHER FORECAST – from ONAMET
• Tropical storm force winds (between 39 – 73mph) expected from midday on Wednesday (tomorrow).
• Hurricane force winds (over 74mph) possible from 6pm on Wednesday (tomorrow).
• A storm surge of 2 to 6 foot.
• An average of 50 – 100mm (2 – 4 inches) of rainfall, in some areas this could reach a maximum of 160mm (6 inches).
So what does this mean for the Dominican Republic, La Romana and Casa de Campo?
• Whatever happens (good, bad or ugly) we will be getting some bad weather (rain and wind) – just how severe we do not yet know.
• The damage level associated with a strong tropical storm is (fortunately) classified as “minimal” and can include: flooding, flash floods, landslides and limited damage to wooden and/or fragile buildings and roads.
What can we really expect in Casa de Campo?
Fortunately here in Casa de Campo, many unpleasant side-effects such as landslides do not occur. Over the last few years we have seen the following side-effects from passing hurricanes:
• During any kind of tropical weather, services of the Casa de Campo hotel are limited – although it has not been announced, we can expect that tomorrow the golf courses and all other sports facilities will be closed, as well as Minitas Beach. UPDATE: Casa de Campo has just announced that The Beach Club by Le Cirque will be closed today at 4pm and reopened on Thursday.
• Storm surges have caused damage to oceanfront properties, as well as the Teeth of the Dog golf course.
• The Chavón river has flooded – although this is something we have just seen from Altos de Chavón or the Marina Casa de Campo.
• Flooding from heavy rainfall – although this is managed well and most excess water typically accumulates on roads and the golf courses.
KEEP INFORMED!
Whilst we at Casa de Campo Living will do our best to keep you informed, we recommend the following for keeping extra-informed:
• www.nhc.noaa.gov – The National Hurricane Centre
• www.weather.com – The Weather Channel
• ONAMET.gov.do – the Dominican Republic’s official weather warning people (this one is in Spanish)
• Twitter: We recommend following NHC_Atlantic – for regular tweets on hurricanes, tropical storms etc
On Friday the 24th of August 2012, the center of Tropical Storm Isaac passed approximately 150 miles to the south of the Dominican Republic, causing a storm surge of up to 5ft along the eastern coast of the country, which in Casa de Campo brought huge waves crashing into oceanside properties, the Teeth of the Dog golf course, Minitas Beach and the Marina Casa de Campo.
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