During the early afternoon of July 16, a line of showers and a few thunderstorms developed inland over the western interior section, and moved west northwest across Barrio Playa in the A asco municipality. Localized but strong gusty winds affected the Barrio Playa Recreational Park, overturning several wood and metal bleachers, downing small trees, dislocating some of the park lights, snapping…
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The episode as NWS SJU wrote it up.
During the early afternoon of July 16, a line of showers and a few thunderstorms developed inland over the western interior section, and moved west northwest across Barrio Playa in the A asco municipality. Localized but strong gusty winds affected the Barrio Playa Recreational Park, overturning several wood and metal bleachers, downing small trees, dislocating some of the park lights, snapping some tree branches, and uplifting an elongated metal shingle from a gazebo roof. Wind damage was localized and no other wind damage reports were received by emergency managers outside the park perimeter.
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 Jul 16, 11:59 AM AST, 1 hour 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR 1159 AM AST WED JUL 16 2008 .UPDATE...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS WERE DETECTED ACROSS THE EASTERN SECTIONS OF PUERTO RICO AND ACROSS THE SURROUNDING COASTAL WATERS THIS MORNING. HOWEVER...THE TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS ACTIVITY WERE GENERALLY MINIMAL. THE ACTIVE TROPICAL WAVE LOCATED NEAR 55 WEST THIS MORNING...WILL TRACK WESTWARD ACROSS THE WINDWARD ISLANDS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. LATEST SATELLITE IMAGES AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS INDICATE THAT THIS TROPICAL WAVE...LOCATED ABOUT 225 MILES EAST OF THE WINDWARD ISLANDS HAS BECOME BETTER-ORGANIZED AND A TROPICAL DEPRESSION COULD BE FORMING. AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT WILL BE INVESTIGATING THIS SYSTEM THIS AFTERNOON TO DETERMINE IF A TROPICAL CYCLONE HAS FORMED. ALTHOUGH THE WAVE IS EXPECTED TO PASS SOUTH OF THE LOCAL AREA...THE AVAILABLE MOISTURE FROM THIS WAVE WILL COMBINE WITH DAYTIME HEATING...AND LOCAL OROGRAPHIC EFFECTS TO PRODUCE AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...MAINLY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. && .AVIATION...BRIEF ISOLATED PASSING SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE LOCAL FLYING AREA AND BRIEFLY AFFECT TAF SITES TJSJ...TISX AND TIST...DURING THE LATE MORNING HOURS. FOR THE AFTERNOON HOURS AND AFTER 19Z...BRIEF PERIODS OF MVFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED MAINLY ACROSS TJBQ AND TJMZ. LATEST TJSJ 12Z SOUNDING INDICATED AN EASTERLY WIND FLOW...UP TO 35 KNOTS...FROM THE SURFACE TO AROUND 15K FEET...BECOMING LIGHT AND VARIABLE FROM 15K FEET TO AROUND 30K FEET. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 618 AM AST WED JUL 16 2008/ SYNOPSIS...A WIND SURGE CONTINUES OVER THE CARIBBEAN WATERS JUST SOUTH OF PUERTO RICO EARLY THIS MORNING. AN ACTIVE TROPICAL WAVE LOCATED NEAR 55 WEST...IS EXPECTED TO APPROACH THE LOCAL AREA THURSDAY...BRINGING AN INCREASE IN SHOWER ACTIVITY ACROSS THE REGION. DRIER AIR WILL MOVE BEHIND THIS TROPICAL WAVE...BEFORE ANOTHER TROPICAL WAVE LOCATED NEAR 35 WEST...MOVES ACROSS THE LOCAL ISLANDS SUNDAY NIGHT. DISCUSSION...AS PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED...A WIND SURGE MOVED ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS OVERNIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING. THIS WIND SURGE IS PRODUCING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY OVER THE CARIBBEAN WATERS. AFTER THIS FEATURE MOVES AWAY FROM OUR LOCAL REGION...A DRIER AIR MASS WILL BE IN PLACE. THE ACTIVE TROPICAL WAVE LOCATED NEAR 55 WEST EARLY THIS MORNING...CONTINUES MOVING RAPIDLY WESTWARD...APPROACHING THE WINDWARD ISLANDS. LATEST SATELLITE IMAGES SHOWS AN INCREASE IN THUNDERSTORMS ACTIVITY IN THIS WAVE...HOWEVER IT IS NOT AS WELL ORGANIZED AS IT WAS 36 HOURS AGO. THE 06Z NAM MODEL PASSES THE MOST ACTIVE WEATHER FROM THIS WAVE SOUTH OF THE LOCAL AREA THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. IN FACT...THE MODEL SHOWS THAT OUR LOCAL AREA WILL STAY DRY AS THIS SYSTEM MOVE BY. THE GFS MODEL...ON THE OTHER HAND...SHOWS A WEAKER SYSTEM...MAINTAINING DRY AIR OVER THE LOCAL AREA THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. ALTHOUGH THE WAVE IS EXPECTED TO PASS SOUTH OF THE LOCAL AREA...THE AVAILABLE MOISTURE FROM THIS WAVE WILL COMBINE WITH DAYTIME HEATING...AND LOCAL OROGRAPHIC EFFECTS TO PRODUCE AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...MAINLY THURSDAY AFTERNOON. FOR SUNDAY NIGHT...IT IS EXPECTED THAT ANOTHER TROPICAL WAVE...CURRENTLY OVER 35 WEST...WILL BRING ACTIVE WEATHER ACROSS THE LOCAL REGION. GRIDS WERE MODIFIED ACCORDINGLY FOR THE PASSAGE OF BOTH SYSTEMS. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED WITH EITHER WAVE AT THIS TIME. AVIATION...THE ENTRANCE OF DRIER AIR INTO THE AREA WILL DECREASE THE COVERAGE OF CLOUDS AND SHOWERS AT THE LOCAL AIRPORTS. NEVERTHELESS AFTERNOON ACTIVITY CENTERED OVER WEST NORTHWEST PUERTO RICO WILL CAUSE AREAS OF MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS AND SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AFTER 17Z. SCATTERED SHOWERS OVER EASTERN PUERTO RICO SHOULD DIMINISH AFTER 15Z. VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL AT ALL AIRPORTS NEXT 24 HOURS. BRIEF PERIODS OF MVFR CONDITIONS MAY OCCUR AT TJMZ. MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING IN ZONES 710...730...AND 740. EXPECT FRESH TO STRONG WINDS IN SOUTHERN ZONES 730 AND 740 THIS MORNING INTO THURSDAY MORNING WITH INTERMITTENT CONVECTIVE SQUALLS...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING GUSTS TO 30 KTS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... SJU 89 79 89 79 / 40 40 20 10 STT 89 78 89 78 / 40 40 30 10 && .SJU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... PR...NONE. VI...NONE. && 04/99
The San Juan radar (TJUA), 119 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:53 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Downed small trees, snapped branches, dislodged lights on top of poles, uplifted metal shingle on gazebo, several overturned bleachers.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Puerto Rico in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Puerto Rico, July 2008
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: 111294.