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- - - 2011 Hurricane Season - - -

- North coast under flash flood warning
  • By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:52:51 +0100 (BST)
Last night here on the north coast in Puerto Plata province, we had 11.1 inches in 16 hours including one spell of 6.6 inches in 4 hours.  Last week they had to release water from the dams to ease the pressure which caused problems for the people who live downstream, and now we are under flash flood warning again with more rain forcast.  There was some thunder and lightning but mostly just torrential rain. 

- Hot, humid and sunny
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2011 09:37:13 -0400
Good morning.

After suffering from scorching conditions yesterday, it seems we have to get ready for another hot day. Sensation skyrocketed to 35 or 36, I had to drink plenty of liquid and felt the effects later at night with headaches and low energy, I just can't stand bright days (good source of my headaches). So much cumulonimbus (almost every day) on the horizon but not a single drop or shadow.

Back to business, Katia, another female storm, seems we will skip this one as models are agreeing to forecast it to the north of Caribbean, but it should remain a concern for Dominican Republic until it reaches 25N 60W, IMO. After that, something Bermuda and United States should watch.

Stay tuned...
---
Guillermo A. Serra
Santo Domingo, R. D.


- Death toll by Irene
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:24:21 -0400
Good afternoon, quick report.

Sadly, because of the floods, Irene has left victims, 3 fatalities, although that number probably will increase, not expected to be significant. Also, 1 is reported missing and over 37,000 people are displaced from their homes.


Stay tuned...


---
Guillermo A. Serra
Santo Domingo, R. D.


- Irene aftermath
  • By gaquiles at gmail.com
  • Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:00:45 +0000
Good afternoon.

Rain continues to affect negatively several parts of our country, I am flooded 
with news I don't know where to start, certainly I can not segregate them now 
as I am away from my desk or my home.

Highlights:

1) 32,500 people are away from their homes.

2) The high tide penetrated about 1 Km in Nagua, in the province of Maria 
Trinidad Sanchez.

3) Some towns are incomunicated by overflowed rivers.

4) Highway damaged between La Romana and La Altagracia provinces, only way to 
get there is via El Seibo. 

Breaking news right now: Haina river is overflowed and is causing trouble near 
manoguayabo, just at the west of Distrito Nacional.

Las Americas had 50 cancelled flights in total due to weather issues caused by 
Irene.


However, most of the capital didn't noticed much trouble as rain hasn't being 
and issue in Metro area, but today we have gotten more rain than any before 
since Irene on Monday (in Santo Domingo city).

I hope this gets over quickly.

Stay tuned...
---
Guillermo A. Serra
Enviado desde mi dispositivo BlackBerry® de Claro Dominicana

- Puerto Plata
  • By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:58:45 +0100 (BST)
We still have total overcast and overnight had quite a few very strong prolonged gusts of wind, accompanied by short bursts of heavy rain.  Luckily the rainfall hasn't been excessive, with only 4.6 inches since Monday.  Checking around yesterday, there was lots of leaf litter, the odd broken branch but no damage to property that I could see.  The power has been good with a few outages, which is amazing since we currently have 2 power stations down for maintenance - well done Edenorte!

- Puerto Plata
  • By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 17:02:19 +0100 (BST)
Irene passed without much fuss - the heaviest rain and strongest winds were between 1 and 3 am.  We just had some leaves blown around and one leaky window which the towels took care of - 3.5 inches of rain overnight.  I will go out later and see what the sea is doing, but the waves don't sound very loud. 

- Frogs are singing
  • By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
  • Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 07:01:46 -0400

Good morning from Punta Cana

Well...the frogs are loving the conditions overnight. The rain has been basically non stop and very heavy at times.I imagine the local rivers are at capacity and that the areas prone to flooding are knee deep. This flooding is due to improper drainage when building roads here...the water simply has no place to go!

I expect that this will continue through the day with gradual improvement as the day wears on...but then again...who knows!

Cheers

Mike

Punta Cana Mike's Dominican Adventure
Reality Tours for People Just Like You
829 981 7989

www.freewebs.com/puntacanamike



- Santo Domingo update
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 06:42:40 -0400
Good morning!

During the night I didn't notice any hard raining, if any, it's windy right now with some gust, it's has being picking up since 2am according to a local weather station, and right now gusty winds is reaching 48 km/h (or 30 mph). It is completely overcast, not raining right now.

Stay tuned...
---
Guillermo A. Serra
Santo Domingo, R. D.


- Puerto Plata
  • By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 06:36:15 +0100 (BST)
The weather is from the northwest with gusty winds - but not much more at the moment.  Great to see the areca palms thrashing around like that.

- Punta Cana now
  • By "kurt van opstal" <funbug at fun-buggy.com>
  • Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:22:25 -0300

Some heavy rain showers falling at the moment, with a stronger breeze some lightning and far away some thunder, but nothing more, my barometer says weather conditions should improve. We want to know more from the North Coast what’s happening there, Stay Safe

Goodnight

Kurt

http://fun-buggy.com/

 


- Puerto Plata
  • By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 02:49:53 +0100 (BST)
9.45 pm and the wind seems to be coming from the west - but no branches or coconuts down!!  The frogs are going mad so there must be more rain on the way.

Thank you for the kind words Guillermo - the more we work together the stronger we become.

- Irene update, now Cat-2!
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:35:37 -0400
Good evening.

I got to apologize from my last post, I meant "bullet dodged" not "budget", blame the "iOS autocorrection feature" in my OS X Lion laptop.

Also, from the reader point of view, it could get confusing, it would seems like the country dodged the winds, but that is not the case for north coast, and now with a healthier Irene, the folks from Samaná to Monte Cristi could get some nasty conditions, but down here in south coast, everything is calm, rain comes and goes, with high chances of heavier downpours during AM hours.

To the reporter "Carol Read" on Puerto Plata, we will look forward to your reports, but stay safe!

As for general lifestyle, classes still suspended for tomorrow, Metro Santo Domingo was working on regular schedule for today. Las Americas Intl. was operating but with some cancelled flights, 'current' information reads 2 departure delays, 4 cancelled departures and 3 cancelled arrivals.

Be safe.
---
Guillermo A. Serra
Santo Domingo, R. D.


- Irene is approaching Puerto Plata
  • By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 01:05:08 +0100 (BST)
8pm and the power is out.  The rain is very heavy in bands, and the wind gusting at about 35 knots - always seems worse in the dark!  Obviously there is much more to come but it is not too bad at the moment.

- FW: Irene
  • By David Young <dsyoung23 at hotmail.com>
  • Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:22:59 -0500

 

From: dsyoung23 at hotmail.com
Subject: Irene
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:16:09 -0500

Hello All,
 
Today, 8/22 I drove from San Pedro de Macoris on the south coast to Santiago de los Caballeros in the Cibao Valley, 45 minutes from the North Coast and Puerta Plata.
 
Some rain, little wind, traffic normal.
 
It is now 6:15 in the evening and rain has started again in Santiago, La Vega and Jarabacoa.  No wind gusts yet.  The storm seems to be north of us and the worst weather is out to sea.  Will check in later if events warrant.
 
ddo

- Irene
  • By David Young <dsyoung23 at hotmail.com>
  • Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:16:09 -0500
Hello All,
 
oday, 8/22 I drove from San Pedro de Macoris on the south coast to Santiago de los Caballerosin the Cabao Vallley 45 minutes from the North Coast and Puerta Plata.

- Again, close call, bullet budget, blessed country!
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:36:13 -0400
Good afternoon!

The light breeze has being coming and going, overcast skies and few drops of rain, the severe weather we were forecasted with has yet not making its way to us. Luckily Irene took a norther track and we met her weaker side, rain should be the only issue here, there is still 100% chance of rain, moderated or not, you can't ignore that Irene will still cover most of Dominican Republic by her field.

This is the second close call of the season, Emily taking a most southern track than the predicted and Irene a northern one, this country is being blessed by God so far, nobody yesterday knew that this was going to happen, but if we did, it would explain the relative calm of Dominicans yesterday, good.

Good things happens to some, bad to others, now that Irene avoided the 3,000 meters peaks of Cordillera Central and stood over the warm waters, that may get the fuel she needs to strengthen more for her next possible target: the Bahamas. Lets all pray for another detour and avoid all land areas, just as she did with us.

We are still under red alert because of the high possibilities of flash flood, landslide or squalls, so lets hope none of that happens.

Stay tuned...


---
Guillermo A. Serra
Santo Domingo, R. D.


- RE: Punta Cana,Dominican Republic
  • By "kurt van opstal" <funbug at fun-buggy.com>
  • Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:16:17 -0300

 

Punta Cana

 

Hello

 

Completely over shadowed by clouds, light rain, some breeze, wind 2 mph with gust to 11.5 mph, 25.6 C and humidity 86%

People went to the gas stations and the housewife filled up the propane tank so that cooking want be a problem for the next days.

Let’s see if the wind will affect us more later today. Tourist don’t have to worry has the hotels and personal working there are prepared for this.

 

Greetings

 

Kurt

Http://www.fun-buggy.com/


- Irene update
  • By gaquiles at gmail.com
  • Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 13:56:03 +0000
Good morning!

So there are some good news for us in the south coast, the forecasts have 
changed dramatically for what where Irene would make landfall but as for now, 
it seems the eye of the storm will "scratch" or even pass near the north coast, 
hope it stays over the water.

I am in the vicinity of Distrito Nacional, to the north, over here there are no 
tall buildings, I got an excellent view (I will post a picture) to Monte Plata 
province, which is very rural, the wind the sustained winds are not normal at 
all, is very breeze right now, we have gotten a few drops of rain and the sun 
is trying hard to shine. I can tell wind is coming from the north as birds are 
trying to flight that direction but the wind is pushing them back.

As for satellites images, La Altagracia (where popular destinations include 
Punta Cana and Bávaro are located) might be getting heavy rains right now.

Classes are suspended, have not heard of canceled flights in Las Americas Intl. 
but no doubt many will no board flights in the afternoon as we are under severe 
weather warning from 12pm and for sure there are canceled flights to/from 
Puerto Rico.

I am working right now but will leave soon to get few supplies and get home 
safely for the rest of the day.

Stay tuned...

  
---
Guillermo A. Serra
Enviado desde mi dispositivo BlackBerry® de Claro Dominicana

Attachment: IMG-20110822-00381.jpg
Description: JPEG image


- The sun just came out!
  • By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
  • Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 07:28:37 -0400
Good morning...once again. Well 2.5 hours of sleep count as a snooze I guess!

This morning the skies are not too bad, nor have we had much in the way of wind nor rain.At this very moment...the trees are absolutely still...not a branch anywhere moving, but that should change momentarily as the sky is darkening.

Unlike models from less than 12 hours ago, Irene has shifted to our north somewhat, but we are not out of the woods yet. Expect conditions to worsen as the day goes on...at least in the daytime you can see what is going on.

You may find that flights destined for PUJ are diverted a few minutes south to La Romana, should local conditions deteriorate.

All for no...time for some coffee.
 
Cheers

Mike

Punta Cana Mike's Dominican Adventure
Reality Tours for People Just Like You
829 981 7989

www.freewebs.com/puntacanamike



- Punta Cana,Dominican Republic
  • By "kurt van opstal" <funbug at fun-buggy.com>
  • Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2011 01:32:23 -0300

Hello

 

Well it’s 1.20 am local time. We at Punta cana, east side and in front of us Puerto Rico, the national press has quite some different interpretations from the weather some say in 36 hours we will be it, some are speaking already about a hurricane of 1 category. Well I know that I can count on the info of stormcarib.com

 

At the moment some rain with a light breeze, has I’m not close to the see don’t know what conditions we have on the beach.

Schools will not be open on Monday

 

More info later

 

 

Goodnight

And let’s hope that Irene isn’t too bad with all of us in the Caribbean

 

 

Kurt

 

Fun-buggy.com


- Hurricane? What Hurricane???
  • By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
  • Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 15:26:38 -0500
A few years back while on my sailboat in the Keys, when a storm such as Irene was on the doorstep...people took to preparing....a day or two in advance. Well, Irene sits within striking distance and we here on the east coast are likely to get in a best case scenario...a tropical storm. Yet, life goes on like everyone had all the time in the world. The sun is shining...volleyball on the beach and all the tour boats all anchored like tomorrow as going to be a tour day.

I have talked to at least 15 different Dominicans...NONE OF WHOM KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ANY STORM. THEY LOOK AT ME LIKE i WAS CRAZY OR JOKING.

I have stocked up on cigars rum and a few movies to watch, as I suspect my cable to go dead in the middle of the night. Everything that can be charged, is charged.

I guess a best case scenario is that irene continues her move noerthward, resulting in Puerto Rico taking some steam out of her. I guess time will tell. Until then, I am one of the few around here who is prepared. I wish the others well...and I do not want to hear any whining about shortages or losses.

--
Cheers

Mike

Punta Cana Mike's Dominican Adventure
Reality Tours for People Just Like You
829 981 7989

www.freewebs.com/puntacanamike



- Irene would make landfall tomorrow after 8am
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 14:07:52 -0400
Good afternoon!

The forecast has changed rapidly and now Irene is predicted to cut in
half the island of Hispaniola, meanwhile it is Sunday here and nobody
listen to news on Sunday (at least I'm not because local channels are
so empty on Sunday's) but I'm sure local authorities are taking act,
I'm getting all the information I need from ONAMET and COE thru
twitter.

Meanwhile half country is under COE's red alert and the other under
yellow alert, and Dominicans are like nothing Bad is going to happen,
at least in my neighborhood everybody is like another typical Sunday.

I'm about to go to my dad's apartment to help him tie things up
because he lives in an 9th floor. I'll try to give more updates later
but currently the weather here is lovely.

One more thing, I remember Emily and how things got a little bit wild,
at least for me. COE evacuated a lot of people and nothing really
happened not even that much rain, so the question is, given the fast
development of Irene and the weekend effect and a recent previous
false alarm (but good prevention) will people trust again in the
authorities? Let's see how things unfold during the afternoon.

Stay tuned...

--
Enviado desde mi iPod


- North coast.
  • By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:49:26 +0100 (BST)
Yes Mountainfrog, it looks as though we may be in for some action here in Puerto Plata for a change.  Time to hustle and get ready I think.

- Right over the DR
  • By Mountainfrog <mountainfrog at hughes.net>
  • Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 11:23:54 -0400
NHC finally changed its forecast track which now correlates with
what we have been seeing on satellites pictures for some time...
The centre of IRENE seems to be much more north than
assumed earlier and will thus hardly pass over the southern
part of the island. I for one even see her passing by north of us,
but very close.
Time to put up the storm shutters and prepare for heavy rain.

Saludos desde Samaná
mountainfrog


- Irene
  • By Darlene Gunter <consultantdr at gmail.com>
  • Date: Sun, 21 Aug 2011 09:18:06 -0400
A  Hurricane Warning has  been issued for the entire  south  coast of the Dominican Republic as of  8 am today.   Irene  looks like it will effect us - the issue  is  degree.

Unfortunately after  our  recent experience with Emily,no one seems to be taking this to  seriously.   The sky is blue  and the  streets are fairly  quiet  right now in  Santo  Domingo. 

I  will try to update  changes as they happen.

- TS Irene and Punta Cana
  • By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
  • Date: Sat, 20 Aug 2011 23:52:36 -0400

As always, we keep an eye on approaching systems regardless of size. Forecast models have been vague at best this year and last, seldom being accurate beyond 24 hours. The outer bands of the system are likely to start effecting our local weather tomorrow and increased cloudiness and winds can be expected...currently about 220 miles east and closing at a rate of 22mph...thus about 10 hours away.

Current forecasts as of 11pm put us at a medium risk (50%) of encountering tropical storm force winds, which in honesty...are not much of a concern. Rainfall is always the bigger issue and being on the north quadrant of the circulation, we are likely to see some periods of heavier precip over the next 36 hours. By Monday, the current forecast model puts Irene as a hurricane passing approx 90 miles to our south as it plows along over open waters...although that can obviously change. Tomorrow morning we should have a better idea.

Tonight...clear skies and a calm breeze.

Cheers
Mike

Punta Cana Mike's Dominican Adventure
Reality Tours for People Just Like You
829 981 7989

www.freewebs.com/puntacanamike



- Irene
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Sat, 20 Aug 2011 22:53:55 -0400
Good evening.

A tropical storm watch has just being issued for the south coast of the Dominican Republic. There is a low chance that Irene becomes a Cat-1 hurricane when passing near the south of our coast.

Stay tuned…

---
Guillermo A. Serra
Santo Domingo, R. D.


- Squall & T-Storms
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:05:18 -0400
Good evening.

Just to let you know that our period or sunny and hot days came to a halt this noon when all of sudden squall came to us, I didn't notice it was coming, I wish I could have taken some pictures but I was in a place surrounded by trees and buildings that blocked my view to the horizon, I was told it was like one of those cell that produce tornadoes.

Anyways, by 12pm to 1pm we were under heavy wind gusts (up to 80 km/h!) and showers, the skies were falling to us. Power grid was affected by the lighting show, we had low voltage and a 30 minute blackout. Seeing all that over us, made me take a peak look at the satellites and wow, quite a tropical wave we are under of, NHC gave it 20% chance of becoming a cyclone.

I'll post this graphic from a weather station near my place, about 800 m of distance. You can see the temperature sudden drop and wind information, no rainfall information available.

Stay tuned...




---
Guillermo A. Serra
Santo Domingo, R. D.


- Hot and sunny
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2011 12:01:43 -0400
Good morning.

After the wild week of Emily, this week I mean, it's being gorgeous, hot, sunny but also humid. Last Tuesday we experimented a peak of Temp. near 32 degrees, which put the heat index by 34 or 35, a lot of people complained that day about the heat, the best way to guard from this conditions is to use light color cloths, position in side shadows areas when possible, drink a lot of water and if you are to be in the sun, cover your skin or protect with sunscreen.

Little rain over Santo Domingo this week, just 30 minutes of rain this Thursday.

Nice weekend everybody! 8)

---
Guillermo A. Serra
Santo Domingo, R. D.


- North coast - Puerto Plata
  • By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 21:04:19 +0100 (BST)
We still have total overcast here with just a light drizzle of rain - too little to measure, and the wind has died down to almost nothing.  Fine for the residents but not so good for the visitors!

- Santo Domingo is soaking
  • By "Guillermo A. Serra" <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 14:22:30 -0400
Good afternoon.

Emily did not make landfall in our territory, but its wind core is suppose to be affecting right now the deep south portion, what we call "el sur profundo" (around Enriquillo Lake). However since the early AM hours we have had a lot of rain and it hasn't stop. Most of the time it has being light to moderate, for short periods it picks up pretty heavy.

So resuming what happened yesterday, most of the people were allowed to leave early from work, for safety and prevention, Santo Domingo Metro stopped its services at 2PM (today is open on regular schedule), Las Americas Intl. had 14 cancelled flights and 2 reschedule and I presume a lot of dates got ruined.

So, I will just relax and enjoy my free time at home, I just had a good cup of coffee while writing this, hot cocoa probably in a few hours, just chill out, because the rain could continue until tomorrow (the one related to Emily, that is, anyways we get rain every day).

Oh, I just want to add, I feel bad we do not have public radars, its a shame we can't track where it is raining and have to rely on information coming from NOAA, I don't want to make comments about politics, I just will say: this country is a circus.

Stay tuned...    ;D

--
Guillermo A. Serra
Santo Domingo, R. D.

- Weather on the north coast.
  • By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 14:05:36 +0100 (BST)
Here on the north coast near Puerto Plata we have solid overcast with some wind, but no rain at all so far.

- Samaná was lucky
  • By Mountainfrog <mountainfrog at hughes.net>
  • Date: Thu, 04 Aug 2011 07:39:58 -0400
Good morning,
We had rain on and off during the night and a gusty wind
(up to 30 knots) from the SSE on our hillside location.
This morning now we still have some occasional gusts but the sky
is broken with blue spots and we hope to see the sun later in the day.
Looking at the satellite pictures we suppose there is much more wind and
rain in the SW and we consider ourselves very lucky that Emily
did not strengthen and thus take the usual NWern path.
Greetings from Samaná
________________________
www.dr101.info



- Still as still can be in PC
  • By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
  • Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 06:35:57 -0500
I guess I have a cupboard full of food for the next week, as Emily
turned into a blind date...meaning we did not see her at all.
Yesterday started with a swim in the pool under sunshine skies and a
moderately gusty windfield. By noon, we had gone for ice cream and
then onward to Cabeza del Toro for some birthday lunch. Clothes were
drying in the breeze, but generally a high overcast. By late
afternoon, next to no wind and light showers. Of course I was not up
all night, but by the look of the pool (which overflows easy in a good
rain), it did not rain much overnight. Right now...winds calm, skies
gray and rain is falling at a romantic rate.

Like many, I got hyped up about this system and I think once more it
only goes to show...that we can have super computers and micro
analyzers and fly planes in and out...charts and graphics up the
yingyang...but the truth be known...we seldom get it right...at least
for this neck of the woods. Within the past week, we were supposed to
get a Cat 2 hurricane, a Cat 1, a TS, .....and likely everything else
aside from a snowstorm. I think I will make my own forecasts...they
can't be any more off than what all the "experts" have been on this
one...as well as others.
Cheers

Mike

Punta Cana Mike's Dominican Adventure
Reality Tours for People Just Like You
829 981 7989

www.freewebs.com/puntacanamike


- May I say "bullet dodged"?
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2011 21:05:11 -0400
Good evening again!

It's being a quite afternoon here, with no rain, quite strange because looking 
at the satellite pictures we have some cold clouds above our heads, but that is 
good news!

A lot of events were cancelled, some other not, people are squeezing in lines 
for the premiere of Harry Potter in our country, others like me went back home 
earlier from work and stood quite in the house, we didn't even went to the 
supermarket to stack up, we had enough food though, and I always buy packages 
of bottled water, so no big deal.

My mom is super happy because she said her prayers and her community prayers 
were heard, until this morning Emily seemed to be aiming right to us, but now 
she is not even touching the Dominican side of Hispaniola (La Española), great.

However all the convention is located way to the east of the system, and 
meteorologists are struggling to find excuses and explanations, either to tell 
why she hasn't turn to a northern track or why she is so disorganized, but 
science behind forecasts isn't perfect, in the end, mother nature is the rule 
and we humans are.... somos insignificante al lado de 'ella'.

I must confess I let myself carried away with all this predictions, and I 
really want to close this case, but until she clears the way (all the clouds 
and stuff she is dragging) I must stay alert, I mean, look at the puerto 
ricans, our neighboors, it has being raining even as the system has passed away 
already for them.

Until tomorrow, stay tuned...

---
Guillermo A. Serra
Santo Domingo, R. D.

- Emily update
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2011 18:12:45 -0400
Good evening.

So far everything is in relative calm, the storm has changed it course in a way that has kept the wind core just to the south part, scratching the coats of Peravia province, so if something is interesting for report, should come from a correspondent in the southwest region, because Distrito Nacional is quite, with no wind, just a few showers of short duration during the morning and earlier in the afternoon. Thank God.

High tide on the coast, nothing unusual there, our coasts consists on high cliffs so when wave crashes produces a spectacular view for the curious disrespectful who dare to stay close. You can this youtube video from user at RDInaguantable (http://youtu.be/WcSNMonAxUY).

I will attach a picture of how the conditions were by 2pm earlier during my way back home from work.

Stay tuned...



---
Guillermo Serra
Santo Domingo, R. D.

- Emily update
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2011 11:37:15 -0400
Hello everybody.

Conditions here are deteriorating as we enter the afternoon, we have had some showers with light gusts and then relative calms, as outer bands of Emily reach us. So far, non destructive wind gusts in the area where I'm moving. It seems like the meteor will make landfall on Independencia province, on the most southwestern part of our Homeland, and then it will quickly make its way towards Haiti.

Of course that doesn't mean the east part of our country will be exempt to the elements, I mean, looking at the satellites, I can see a healthy compact storm, so rain will be the main issue here.

I am attaching a picture of some trees during one of the gusts we are getting, is not as bad as it looks either, for now, I guess, is next to our construction site, Santo Domingo Norte.

Stay tuned...




- Hispaniola will get hit
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2011 07:08:08 -0400
Good morning!

It is a beautiful morning over Santo Domingo city, I thought we were going to 
take some showers or wind during the night but either that did not happen or I 
was deep sleeping. Now I am getting ready to work, but probably will get home 
early as I work on a construction.

We will take this day to take all necessary precautions so the site stays safe 
and for our neighbors.

People here are in "relative" calmness, as if no storm will make a landfall, 
that might change today, we are expecting a hit somewhere in our southwest 
coasts tonight, the effects could be felt way earlier.

Rain will be a major issue, some areas are being evacuated, specially those 
downriver after some dams. 

Some of our public institutions are constantly tweeting with tips and measures 
being taking, if you know some Spanish and you are interested, you could read 
those tweets, here are three of them:

 at COE_RD (Centro de Operaciones de Emergencia)

 at ONAMET (Oficina Nacional de Meteorología)

 at CDEEE_RD (Corporación Dominicana de Empresas Eléctricas y Estatales)

Last, I have to express my worry about people in Haiti, seems like 
Port-Au-Prince will take the full force of this and they have not quite 
recovered yet from last year earthquake, is just not fair, not fair for us 
either, thank goodness Emily did not reach Cat-1 status.

Stay tuned...



- Emily update
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2011 12:14:42 -0400
Good afternoon.

National Weather Office (ONAMET) issued at 10:00AM its bulletin No. 3A. It's a bit extensive and it is in Spanish (http://www.onamet.gov.do/alertas.php?id=2259) so I will post the highlights:

ONAMET keeps TS watch at all coastal areas of the country, from Bahía Manzanillo to Cabo Engaño to Pedernales.

From this night, maritime conditions will get worse, from now on, all ships should stay in port, high tides expect from 1.5 to 2.5 meters.

In another topic, mandatory evacuations are in effect for the following Dam areas due to operations in maximum levels:

Sabana Yegua Dam: Jaquimeyes, Bombita, Palo de Leche, Palo Alto, Peñón, Pescadería Habanero, La Hoya and Fundación.

Sabaneta Dam: Mesopotamia and lower land near San Juan river.

Taveras Dam: Guayubin, Palo Verde y Castañuelas.

Other Dam in maximum levels are Valdesia and Monción.

I'll try to update later.

Stay tuned...

- West, but not WNW yet (Emily)
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2011 06:51:35 -0400
Good morning.

Just a quick short message to express my opinion on a frequent situation that 
happens to storms on latitudes where Emily is right now, when exactly is this 
system change its track to a more northern one? Yesterday it seemed like the 
storm would impact Ocoa Bay, but now it looks like it will hit somewhere more 
to the west (Barahora or Independencia provinces).

I'll try to properly update later about where is Emily going and what are we 
doing about it.

Stay tuned...

- TS Emily update
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2011 22:10:53 -0400
Good evening.

The Emergency Operation Center (Centro de Operaciones de Emergencia) has declared Distrito Nacional and 10 other provinces in alert due to forecasts of Emily.

It is known that the system has grown in strength and it is threading our country, possibly taking a direct hit by Wednesday in the afternoon. 

It is too early to tell if that will happen, this is just a forecast just like Mr. Dave said in the home page, but local authorities are taking this seriously.

It is said that #Emily could bring 115 mm of precipitation on Wednesday and 150 mm on Thursday, so at least it could be very wet when she comes. The storm is forecasted to enter in Ocoa Bay area, about 70 kilometers WSW of Santo Domingo and cross the high mountains of Coordillera Central, which could rip the storm or weak it at least.

Provinces Warning:

1. La Altagracia
2. La Romana
3. San Pedro de Macorís
4. Santo Domingo
5. Distrito Nacional
6. San Cristobal
7. Peravia
8. Azua de Compostela
9. Pedernales

Provinces under yellow warning:

1. San Juan de la Maguana
2. Barahona


Stay tuned...


- Sunny then T-Storms + Emily?
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2011 14:51:30 -0400
Good afternoon!

It has being a wet July for Distrito Nacional and vicinity (Santo Domingo 
Norte), specially this last week, where you could enjoy a beautiful yet hot 
morning and right after 1 pm, the sky turns so dark that rain is imminent. 
Right now I can see thru my window the sky is so dark and thunders are slowly 
sounding even louder, but this is Caribbean, oceanic climate is the rule here, 
but thank to this, out temperatures are stable, not too hot on summers, not too 
cold on winters (max 31, low 23).

But there is something going on just east of the leeward islands, it's probably 
the next storm of the season and it is already getting our attentions, local 
authorities are starting to warn citizens about the possibility that this 
system could get pretty close to Dominican Republic in the next two days so we 
will keep a close eye to this.

Ooops! It is already raining. Haha!

Stay tuned... :)



- BETTER TO WORRY THAN NOT TO!
  • By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
  • Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2011 13:41:12 -0500
As I sit here sipping a Brugal under sunny skies with a wonderful breeze, I am thinking 3 days forward where it appears that we could be in for a close encounter in Punta Cana/Bavaro. Yesterday I started the task of stocking up on food that requires no refrigeration...including rum! I can live off of rum...my wife and daughter differ! Gas tank is full on the CRV,,,fill up the Mazda and Yamaha tonight, as well as the propane tank.

There is really only one road into this area and if heavy rains take out a bridge, we are pretty much shut off.

When I mention 91L...most people here haven't a clue what I am talking about. The Dominican media will report it, once it is over...lol.

Here's hoping that I have too much of everything!



--
Cheers

Mike

Punta Cana Mike's Dominican Adventure
Reality Tours for People Just Like You
829 981 7989

www.freewebs.com/puntacanamike



- Cloudy but mainly dry on the east coast
  • By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
  • Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2011 06:56:59 -0500
Although the weather photos look ominous and no doubt in some parts it is, the last couple of days have been a mixed bag of clouds, sun, showers and haze. Next to no wind. Yesterday I crossed the Yuma River (which spilled it's banks early last month....yesterday, hardly a flow to the river, thus not much rain in the eastern mountains either. This morning I am driving north to Uvero Alto...hazy gray overcast skies with the sun looking line a different shade of gray as it tries to break through.

--
Cheers

Mike

Punta Cana Mike's Dominican Adventure
Reality Tours for People Just Like You
829 981 7989

www.freewebs.com/puntacanamike



- North coast weather
  • By carol read <carolread1945 at yahoo.com>
  • Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2011 03:17:31 +0100 (BST)
Sorry Guillermo, but here on the north coast near Puerto Plata we have had very dry weather for a long time.  Thunder rumbles around but very little rain so far.  A few showers to make the grass green up and keep the cows in fodder.


- Thunderstorms
  • By Guillermo Serra <gaquiles at gmail.com>
  • Date: Mon, 4 Jul 2011 19:31:26 -0400
Good evening!

It's being raining all day long and right now Santo Domingo and
probably all our nation is under a spectacular thunderstorm. Street
and urban flooding is a major concern right now.

Stay tuned...

--
Enviado desde mi iPod


- The sun is trying hard...
  • By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
  • Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2011 12:18:52 -0400
It has been at best, a dreary week here in the east of the DR. We did receive a good dump of rain earlier in the week, causing some poor planning flods in the resort district and some major flooding in the stream and riverbeds. The Yuma River crested the Higuey highway on Monday night, cutting off the only main road into the east, but it was a temporary inconvenience as levels receded in timely fashion.

The environment here has gone from deathly brown to brilliant green in less that a month!

Winds...non existent and steamy today.

--
Cheers

Mike

Punta Cana Mike's Dominican Adventure
Reality Tours for People Just Like You
829 981 7989

www.freewebs.com/puntacanamike



- Rainy Friday!
  • By Mike Bryant <puntacanamike at gmail.com>
  • Date: Fri, 20 May 2011 15:33:05 -0500
FINALLY....a complete day of rain here on the east coast! It has been 6 very dry months up until today, with light rainfalls scattered about, but nothing of a soaking nature. Wipers are on non stop and the gardens and fields are springing to life after a long hibernation! I know the tourists are probaly cursing me right now, but even the wells are going dry, thus they were running the risk of shower-less mornings and nights, had we not had relief from the rain gods! Hopefully this wave will stall for a day or so and further reload the water table.

Cheers
PuntaCana Mike

Punta Cana Mike's Dominican Adventure
Reality Tours for People Just Like You
829 981 7989

www.freewebs.com/puntacanamike



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