Tropical Storm Karen has brought flooding rains and gusty winds to portions of the Windward Islands, including Trinidad and Tobago. Karen is now on track to affect the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.At 5 pm Sunday, Karen was located near 12.9 North, 62.7 West, about 85 miles northwest of Grenada and 360 miles south-southeast of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Maximum sustained winds were 40 miles per hour. Karen was moving west-northwest at 13 miles per hour.
Tropical storm warnings are in effect for Grenada, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines. Tropical storm watches are in effect for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.Karen’s future is complicated. It will struggle with strong wind shear on Monday, which will limit its strength — or possibly tear it apart. Conditions will be more favorable north of Puerto Rico. The latest computer model runs indicate that a strong ridge is likely to build over the southeastern U.S. next weekend — which could force Karen westward toward some portion of U.S. coast. This is still highly uncertain, but we’ll be watching Karen closely as the week progresses.
