Daytime warning upgraded due to prolonged rain

A flood watch warning until Friday afternoon has been upgraded to orange level, following reports of flooding, people trapped in their vehicles, and power disruptions, but conditions will improve just in time to ring in the New Year.

Weather officials upgraded a flood watch warning to level orange effective until Friday afternoon at 5pm, with reports on Thursday pointing to problems such as flooded areas including road network and power disruptions due to prolonged rain.

Police on Friday morning called on motorists to drive carefully and maintain low speeds, saying rain and wind were affecting driving conditions on overpasses.

But an official also warned drivers that mud and rain could also affect bridge underpasses, saying in one case on Thursday emergency workers had to rescue a driver whose vehicle was trapped in water after he reportedly removed road blocks in order to cross the road.

Reports said precipitation within a 24-hour period could reach in some areas the equivalent of 170% of rain received in the entire month of December this year.

Rain and thunderstorms on New Year’s Eve will continue in the daytime when some areas are expected to see intense or prolonged showers, with precipitation expected to be between 85 and 110 millimeters mainly in the western half of the island and in the mountains.

Very strong winds are expected in the early part of the day with temperature highs reaching 15 degrees Celsius inland, around 18 in coastal areas, while it will be 6 high up in the mountains.

Evening skies will gradually become mostly clear with scattered clouds over some areas along with strong wind activity. Temperature lows will drop to 6 degrees inland, around 11 on the coast, while it will 3 higher up where frost is expected to form overnight.

Saturday temperatures on New Year’s Day will rise slightly with increasing clouds expected over the weekend along with rain chances, while Monday weather will be mostly clear.