Cuba on Tropical Storm Warning

By Circles Robinson

HAVANA TIMES, Sept. 28 – Portions of western and central Cuba are under a tropical storm warming with the forming today of Tropical Depression 16 which is expected to turn into tropical storm “Nicole” by later Tuesday, reports the National Hurricane Center and the Cuban Meteorological Institute.  Also on alert are southern Florida and the Bahamas.

The Cuban weather experts predict the storm will cross Cuba in the western province of Matanzas by early Wednesday.

“This is a very weak system,” said Cuba’s chief meteorologist Jose Rubiera. He forecast that top wind speeds would rise to no more than 50 mph (80 kph). “Those winds will not cause any damage, except possibly to sensitive crops or weak structures,” he added.

The Institute notes that with weak systems like this one, the greatest danger is in locally intense rains to the right of the storm’s path, in this case from Matanzas to Las Tunas and Granma.

INSMET will have a new report at 6:00 p.m. EST.