T.D. 15 stirs up trouble

Tonight, it appears tropical depression number fifteen isn’t sure what it wants to do, so it’s sitting tight. Unfortunately, the buckets of rain accompanying the system is putting life and property at risk in Nicaragua and Honduras. The residents of the steep hillsides in Honduras are particularly vulnerable as widespread flooding is expected. But for local storm trackers, the behavior of number fifteen is hauntingly familiar to Hurricanes Mitch and Keith. The tropical depression is still stationary, but a move to the north is predicted for sometime tomorrow night. Chief Meteorologist Carlos Fuller says the conditions in the Gulf of Honduras could give number fifteen just what it needs to become a significant threat to Belize.

Carlos Fuller, Chief Meteorologist

“Atmospheric conditions and sea temperature conditions are favourable for development. If that system was over water right now, it would intensify very rapidly, so depending on its capacity tomorrow, how it looks, if it remains with that excellent circulation when it hits the Gulf of Honduras, it’s going to explode and become a tropical storm very quickly. If it enters the Gulf of Honduras as a tropical depression, then these are memories of Keith. And if it moves rapidly towards us, again you have a very small timeframe in which to act, which was the problem with Hurricane Keith last year. If you need a lot of time for warnings, if you need three days to act, then you have to act now. However, I believe that is going to be premature, this thing could easily fizzle out over land tomorrow. So you’re sort of caught in not knowing what to do. So the best thing to do is to continue to monitor, get ready to act if it becomes necessary on Thursday.”