S. Virgin Islands during the period from March 8-10.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS SJU wrote it up.
A combination of a thick layer Saharan dust and and thin layer of volcanic ash from the Montserrat volcano affected Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands during the period from March 8-10. Local aviation operations were partially impacted.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS San Juan, PR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 7, 11:48 PM AST, 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR 1148 PM AST WED MAR 7 2007 .UPDATE...THE 00Z SOUNDING WAS VERY SIMILAR TO THIS MORNINGS AND A LITTLE DRYER THAN LAST NIGHTS SOUNDING. SHOWERS HAVE INCREASED SINCE SUNSET...POSSIBLY DUE TO THE MODEST INCREASE IN RELATIVE HUMIDITY IN THE LOWEST LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY IS SPARSE...BUT IN PLACES IT IS INTENSE...ESPECIALLY NORTHWEST OF AGUADILLA...AND NOW OUTSIDE OF THE FORECAST AREA. SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TO BE ISOLATED OVER LAND BUT FLOW APPEARS TO BE FROM ABOUT 110 DEGREES...AND SOME SHOWERS ARE NOW MOVING ONSHORE IN PONCE. VOLCANIC ASH IS NO LONGER VISIBLE DUE TO DARKNESS...BUT FLOW SUGGESTS THAT THE CENTERLINE OF THE VOLCANIC ASH PLUME FROM MONTSERRAT IS NOW SOUTH OF SAN JUAN AND PERHAPS EASTERN PUERTO RICO. LATEST MODELS SUGGEST A RETURN TO SOUTHEAST FLOW AROUND 18Z TODAY. WOULD EXPECT SOME HAZINESS DUE TO ASH TO CONTINUE TOMORROW. THE GFS IS MUCH DRYER ON THURSDAY EVENING AND HAVE LOWERED THE POPS THEN. ALSO...ALTHOUGH THE UPPER TROUGH IS STILL EXPECTED TO PASS THROUGH ON THURSDAY WITH A SMALL ANTICYCLONIC JETLET OVER THE AREA...THERE HAS BEEN A DRYING TREND IN THE LOWER LEVEL RELATIVE HUMIDITY SOLUTIONS AND SO DO NOT EXPECT AS WIDESPREAD SHOWER ACTIVITY AS FORMERLY FORECAST. NEVERTHELESS...THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY SHOWERS WILL BE LIKELY IN THE NORTHWEST. THE SYNOPTIC PATTERN CONTINUES TO LOOK SIMILAR TO PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS...WHICH KEEP HIGHS AND LOWS AND FRONTS NORTH OF THE LOCAL AREA AND PUERTO RICO AND THE CARIBBEAN FIRMLY ENSCONCED IN THE TRADE WIND FLOW. SOMETHING TO WATCH...SPRING APPEARS TO BE COMING. A WEAK EASTERLY WAVE CAN BE SEEN NEAR 47 WEST...A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF AFRICAN DUST IS NOTED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY BETWEEN 40 AND 50 WEST WITH LESSER CONCENTRATIONS TO 60 DEGREES WEST LONGITUDE...AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE BECOMING MORE FREQUENT IN THE AREA ONCE AGAIN. IT IS NOT CLEAR THAT WE WILL ACTUALLY FEEL THE EFFECTS FROM ANY OF THESE THINGS IN THE NEAR FUTURE BUT THE PATTERN IS CHANGING. ALSO WILL HAVE TO WATCH FOR THE DUST COMPONENT OF THE HAZY LOOK IN THE ATMOSPHERE SOON. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES STILL EXPECTED FOR INCREASING SEAS TOMORROW IN OUTER ATLANTIC WATERS AND EXPOSED PASSAGES DUE TO INCREASING WINDS AND NORTH SWELL. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 508 PM AST WED MAR 7 2007/ DISCUSSION...LITTLE CHANGE EXPECTED IN THE OVERALL WEATHER PATTERN FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS...AS ELONGATED MID TO UPPER LEVEL RIDGE MAINTAINS A MAINLY DRY WEATHER PATTERN ACROSS THE LOCAL AREA. STILL EXPECT THE COMBINATION OF PASSING AREAS OF CLOUDS AND EMBEDDED SHOWERS AND SOME DIURNALLY INDUCED CLOUDS AND SHOWERS... TO PROVIDE SHORT BREAKS IN THE CLEAR SKIES...BUT STILL NO REAL SIGNIFICANT OR WIDESPREAD RAINFALL IS FORESEEN. AVIATION...ONGOING VENTING OF ASH AND STEAM CONTINUES FROM THE MONTSERRAT VOLCANO...AND CURRENT WIND REGIME IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO CARRY THIS ASH IN A WEST NORTHWEST DIRECTION AND GENERALLY TOWARD THE LOCAL ISLANDS FOR TONIGHT. MARINE...GENERALLY EXPECT WINDS OF 20 KNOTS OR LESS AND SEAS OF 4 TO 7 FEET IN EAST AND THEN NORTH SWELLS...ACROSS THE REGIONAL WATERS THROUGH FRIDAY. THERE IS A PRECAUTIONARY STATEMENT FOR ALL OF THE LOCAL ATLANTIC AND CARIBBEAN WATERS TONIGHT. FIRE WEATHER...ONGOING VERY DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE SOUTH SECTIONS OF PUERTO RICO ..MAINTAINING A HIGH RISK FOR GRASS AND BRUSH FIRES. ALL LOCAL RESIDENTS AND VISITORS ARE URGED TO USE EXTRA CAUTION AND DISPOSE OF ALL FLAMMABLE MATERIALS IN THE PROPER RECEPTACLES. HYDROLOGY...STILL NO REAL SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS IN MOST AREAS...AS THE MAINLY DRY WEATHER PATTERN CONTINUES. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... SJU 72 85 73 85 / 30 10 0 20 STT 74 83 74 83 / 10 10 0 20 && .SJU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PR...NONE. VI...NONE. && 07/12
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR 600 AM AST WED MAR 7 2007 PRZ001>013-AMZ710>750-081000- 600 AM AST WED MAR 7 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PUERTO RICO. .TODAY AND TONIGHT...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE OFFSHORE ATLANTIC WATERS AND ALL CARIBBEAN WATERS WHERE MARINERS CAN EXPECT SEAS OF 5 TO 7 FEET. NO SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL IS EXPECTED AND THE POTENTIAL FOR GRASS AND BRUSH FIRES WILL REMAIN HIGH. NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...NO SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL IS EXPECTED AND THE POTENTIAL FOR GRASS AND BRUSH FIRES WILL REMAIN HIGH. NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY. VIZ001-002-AMZ710>730-081000- 600 AM AST WED MAR 7 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS. .TODAY AND TONIGHT...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE OFFSHORE ATLANTIC WATERS AND ALL CARIBBEAN WATERS WHERE MARINERS CAN EXPECT SEAS OF 5 TO 7 FEET. NO SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL IS EXPECTED AND THE POTENTIAL FOR GRASS AND BRUSH FIRES WILL REMAIN HIGH. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...NO SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL IS EXPECTED AND THE POTENTIAL FOR GRASS AND BRUSH FIRES WILL REMAIN HIGH. NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE FOR PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS AT (ALL LOWERCASE LETTERS): HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/SJU FROM YOUR PDA/PHONE: HTTP://MOBILE.SRH.NOAA.GOV OR WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/WML
1 volcanic ashfall. Local standard time, as filed.
Satellite images,surface observations, some pilot reports and public calls confirmed the presence of Saharan dust and volcanic ash across the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. |
The record’s own kinds of event.
Every storm in Puerto Rico in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Puerto Rico, March 2007
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 23668.