Rina churns up rough seas for Cayman

| 26/10/2011

(CNS): Updated 5pm  Local weather forecasters said seas will be rough in Grand Cayman Wednesday and Thursday with wave heights of 4 to 6 ft rising to 6 to 8 ft with higher swells expected along the south and west coasts as Hurricane Rina continues to impact local weather conditions. But police have now opened the roads which were closed during the day as a result of the debris and high waves. Both the West Bay Road and North Church Street are open in both directions but police said they will continue to monitor the situation.Drivers are being warned to continue to take care when using  roads along the south and west cpast of Grand Cayman.

The category two hurricane, which is slowly rumbling across the Caribbean some 280 miles south west of Cayman, poses no direct threat to the islands.

The National Hurricane Centre in Miami said that at around 10:00 am Rina was packing winds of 110mph with higher gusts and moving west-northwest at only 5mph. The hurricane is expected to gradually turn to the northwest with a slight increase in forward speed later today (Wednesday) followed by a turn toward the north on Thursday.  On the forecast track the centre of Rina will be moving near or over the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula on Thursday.

A gradual weakening is expected to begin today and a faster weakening may occur as the centre moves near or over the Yucatan Peninsula.  At present hurricane force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the centre and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 115 miles.

Meanwhile, a surface trough located over the central Caribbean which has been fluctuating in organization is still producing disorganized cloudiness and showers but development of tropical weather system if any will be slow the NHC said giving it only a 10 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours as it moves westward at 10 to 15 mph.

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  1. been there done that says:

    reason for moving the westbay road.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Wow. Nice work forcasters. Whoever does the 5 day forcast on the goverment website states whats happening that day. Thats not a forcast. Its  terrible service. People try to use this to plan there work week or boating activities. Diveshops look at it. they need to try a little harder.

    • Anonymous says:

      Are you saying that the forecasters are just duplicating the days conditions through 5 days?

      Do you pay attention to the five day forecats to see if the forecast actually gives you a good estimate of rough seas?

  3. Anonymous says:

    What about the Kittiwake, has it rolled over?