By Eulana Weekes
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Feeder bands from Tropical Storm Bret could trigger showers, thunderstorms and gusty conditions over St. Kitts and Nevis late Thursday night into Friday, but the question that’s foremost in the minds of the people is “How will the weather affect the St. Kitts Music Festival?”
Meteorologist at the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport Mr Elmo Burke suggested that attendees to the event prepare, as there is potential for shower activity.
“There isn’t a guarantee that we will have showers during the event, but there is potential for some showers to pass, so people need to just bear that in mind. Walk with a raincoat or umbrella, just the normal preparation like if you hear a Tropical Wave is in the area. So, just bear that in mind.”
Burke added “The weather is dynamic. So, we are seeing some hostile conditions ahead of Tropical Storm Bret, in that, some wind shear is in the vicinity of the island chain. So, that could even suppress some of the shower activity that we may get, if we get any at all. It is better to prepare that you may get some, than for you to come and say, you didn’t expect any at all.”
A Tropical Storm warning had been issued for St.Lucia on Wednesday, June 21, whilst a Tropical Storm Watch was issued for Martinique, Barbados and Dominica. The Meteorologist said the center point of the storm is expected to pass at a relatively safe distance away from the St. Kitts and Nevis.
Burke informed “As Bret feeder bands and rain bands start to move over us late Thursday into Friday, we’re going to see an increase in shower activity. These shower activities will be more intermittent, so there is not going to be continuous rainfall; bearing in mind that it is a storm. Some of the showers could be moderate or heavy at times and accompanied with thunderstorms, so we’re asking people to bear this in mind. We’re not going to be directly impacted. However, we will be affected. There is a potential for showers accompanied with thunderstorms. Also in those showers, you could have some gusty conditions, especially when you have moderate to heavy showers. So people need to bear that in mind.”
Mr. Abdias Samuel, National Disaster Coordinator at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said he is comfortable that the St. Kitts Music Festival will be great; but he advised individuals and promoters etc that June is the start to the hurricane season and all planning should be done with the season in mind.
“I am personally quite comfortable that we are going to have a very fantastic Music Festival. Looking at the lineup in itself, it’s very interesting. I’ve had my colleagues regionally reaching out saying some of them are coming over, especially those in Montserrat and Anguilla and so on. They are in my fraternity, so we’re comfortable that the weather should be friendly as Elmo said. However, the dynamism of weather is real. I was on the phone with some of my colleagues in the Windwards and the trajectory of the storm had the storm coming closer to St.Kitts-Nevis, the Northern Leewards. So, we had already started our preparatory mode in our sub-region and when we continued to monitor, we saw that the storm kept going further South, so it thrusted the Windwards now, to become prepared for this particular storm. So, therefore, I want people to start to develop this culture, understanding that the weather is dynamic. It can change in hours, it can change in over a couple days, or a couple minutes.”
The 25th St. Kitts Music Festival gets underway on Thursday night June 22 and several media agencies and a large number of visitors and returning nationals are already in the Federation to witness some of the best performers in the world.
