Can we dodge another one?

The view out our window at sunrise Tuesday.

I don't know if we can...Tropical Storm Omar has grown to a Cat 1 Hurricane and is sitting just south of the island. The original tracking predictions showed it coming around the west end of the island, right up through the Mona Passage and directly over us. The storm track has since shifted way east and it looks like the center will miss the island completely. As of now (4:00 am AST Wednesday), the National Weather Service has canceled the flash flood watch but the entire island remains under a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch. The hurricane warnings have shifted east to the U.S. Virgin Islands and the islands of Vieques and Culebra, St. Martin/Maarten...Saba...St. Eustatius...St. Barthelemy...the British Virgin Islands...Anguilla...St. Kitts...and Nevis.

The predictions are for 5 to 10 inches of rain through Wednesday night, and up to 20 inches total through the end of the week. Maximum sustained winds are 75 mph but Omar is expected to strengthen and pick up speed as it moves north. It is predicted to be a Cat 2 hurricane by the time it moves through the northern Leeward Islands east of Puerto Rico sometime overnight Wednesday night.

This is not a huge storm - hurricane-force winds extend only about 15 miles out from the center. But this thing is moving so slowly! Forecasters expected it to go past PR last night and early this morning. Now that's been pushed back to tonight into tomorrow.

We obviously keep a close eye on the weather and the radar (as long as electric and internet access hold out). The south half of the island got some pretty heavy rain Tuesday afternoon and night, but we just had a few sprinkles. The southern and eastern parts of the island can't afford too much more rain. Right after we got back from Milwaukee and Chicago and all the flooding there, the rest of the island - everywhere but here in fact - got up to 25 inches in less than 24 hours.

So far all is well here. Let's hope it stays that way.