Residents on the Low Coastal Plain of Guyana may experience heavy rains form the remnants of Tropical Storm Kirk and Minister of State, Joseph Harmon on Monday assured that the country was “well-prepared”.
Kirk will be passing close to the Low Coastal Plain of Guyana on Wednesday
“We are very, very well prepared, I can say that to you that even when these storms do not affect us here in Guyana that the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) prepares for them,” he told media operatives on Monday.
Harmon gave the assurance at a press conference hours after the CDC warned that the storm remnants would be passing close to the coastal region on Wednesday bringing heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and high winds.
The CDC further noted that it, along with the Hydrometeorological Service, would be tracking the storm system and would be providing updates as they became available.
Harmon indicated that additional preparatory measures were being implemented.
The US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) as late as Monday evening noted that it has stopped issuing advisories on Kirk, which had been downgraded into a tropical depression. US media entity CBS News reported that the remnants of Kirk dissipated into a tropical wave moving westward over the tropical Atlantic.
The tropical wave is located about 1400 miles east of the Windward Islands. “This system is producing showers and thunderstorms along with winds to gale force over the northern portion of the wave. Redevelopment of this system is possible over the next few days until it encounters highly unfavourable upper-level winds while it approaches the Caribbean Sea,” the NHC said.
“Environmental conditions are expected to become slightly more conducive for development during the next day or so while the system moves west-northwestward to northwestward. By Tuesday night and Wednesday, upper-level winds are expected to increase, limiting the chances for additional development while the system moves northward near the south-eastern United States coast…a non-tropical low-pressure system is expected to form north of Subtropical Storm Leslie along a cold front over the central Atlantic by Wednesday. Leslie and the non-tropical low are expected to merge over the central Atlantic, where conditions appear conducive for the low to acquire tropical or subtropical characteristics by the end of the week,” it added.
Kirk had initially developed from a tropical depression to a tropical storm.
A tropical depression forms when a low-pressure area is accompanied by thunderstorms that produce a circular wind flow with maximum sustained winds below 39 miles per hour (mph). An upgrade to a tropical storm occurs when cyclonic circulation becomes more organised and maximum sustained winds gust between 39 mph and 73 mph.
In addition to Guyana, Kirk was also likely to make land fall in Trinidad.
It reported that the NHC dubbed the storm “Kirk” after it developed last Saturday at the recent peak of the 2018 hurricane season.
Kirk, which had developed at a very southerly latitude, was moving west of Cabo Verde island packing winds of 40 miles (65 km) per hour.
