A strong tropical wave located few hundred miles east of the lesser Antilles became better organized on July 8, 2013 and was declared a Tropical Depression. Later, The National Hurricane Center named it as Tropical Storm Chantal.
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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 strong tropical wave located few hundred miles east of the lesser Antilles became better organized on July 8, 2013 and was declared a Tropical Depression. Later, The National Hurricane Center named it as Tropical Storm Chantal. Chantal move generally west-northwest across the Caribbean Sea, passing arounf 150 miles south of Puerto Rico July 9, 2013. The outer bands associated with the circulation of Chantal, produced numerous showers with thunderstorms with strong gusty winds. Observed precipitation across the U. S. Virgin Islands showed that most rainfall was below an inch. No flooding was reported across the islands and official river gages did not approach flood stage at any time.
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 9, 4:44 PM AST, 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
444 PM AST TUE JUL 9 2013
.SYNOPSIS...WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL QUICKLY DETERIORATE THIS
EVENING/TONIGHT AS RAIN BANDS FROM TROPICAL STORM CHANTAL MOVES
OVER THE FORECAST AREA.
&&
.DISCUSSION...A GENERALLY FAIR WEATHER PATTERN PREVAILED TODAY
ACROSS THE LOCAL ISLANDS. SOME ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS
WERE NOTED EARLY THIS MORNING OVER EASTERN AND NORTHERN PUERTO
RICO WITH A FEW ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WESTERN PUERTO
RICO IN THE AFTERNOON.
CONDITIONS WILL QUICKLY DETERIORATE THIS EVENING AS TROPICAL
STORM CHANTAL MOVES CLOSER TO OUR LOCAL AREA. AT 200 PM AST...
THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM CHANTAL WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE
14.8 NORTH...LONGITUDE 62.7 WEST. CHANTAL IS MOVING RAPIDLY
TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 29 MPH. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...
THE CENTER OF CHANTAL WILL MOVE AWAY FROM THE LESSER ANTILLES
LATER TODAY...AND CONTINUE OVER THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
SQUALLS ASSOCIATED WITH CHANTAL WILL BEGIN TO ARRIVE INTO THE
U.S VIRGIN ISLANDS THIS EVENING...SPREADING ACROSS PUERTO RICO
TONIGHT. THESE SQUALLS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY STRONG WIND GUSTS
OF 40 TO 60 MPH AND TORRENTIAL RAINFALL. RAINFALL TOTALS OF 3
TO 6 INCHES WITH ISOLATED TOTALS OF 8 INCHES ARE EXPECTED WITH
HIGHEST TOTALS OVER SOUTHEAST PUERTO RICO. THIS RAINFALL COULD
RESULT IN FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND RIVERS ESPECIALLY
OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF PUERTO RICO.
AS TROPICAL STORM CHANTAL MOVES AWAY ON WEDNESDAY...WEATHER
CONDITIONS WILL SLOWLY IMPROVE. LATEST GUIDANCE CONTINUES
TO INDICATE A DRIER AIR MASS MOVING OVER THE LOCAL AREA ON
WEDNESDAY NIGHT/THURSDAY MORNING. THIS AIR MASS COMBINED WITH
AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN WILL RESULT IN
A FAIR AND STABLE WEATHER PATTERN THURSDAY AND PROBABLY FRIDAY.
HOWEVER AFTERNOON SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS CANT BE RULED OUT EACH
DAY. AFOREMENTIONED UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL ERODE AS TUTT DEVELOPS
ACROSS THE CENTRAL ATLANTIC INTO THE NORTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN DURING
THE UPCOMING WEEKEND.
&&
.AVIATION...CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE TO DETERIORATE AS TS CHANTAL
APPROACHES THE LOCAL TERMINALS. AFTER AROUND 09/20Z...APPROACHING
TS CHANTAL WILL CAUSE SHRA/TSRA ACTIVITY TO INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY
AND WINDS INCREASING TO 25 KTS WITH GUSTS OF 45 KTS OR HIGHER...
STARTING WITH TKPK/TNCM AND THEN TISX/TIST. THEREAFTER...SHRA AND
VCSH WITH WINDS GENERALLY FROM THE EAST AT 15 TO 20 KNOTS WITH
HIGHER GUSTS...FOR ALL OF THE TERMINALS.
&&
.MARINE...WINDS AND SEAS WILL DETERIORATE AS TROPICAL STORM
CHANTAL MOVES SOUTH OF PUERTO RICO. THIS WILL RESULT IN HAZARDOUS
SEAS ACROSS THE LOCAL WATERS...ESPECIALLY THE CARIBBEAN WATERS.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT OUR MARINE SECTION OF OUR LOCAL PAGE.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
SJU 79 87 78 87 / 100 100 20 20
STT 79 81 81 91 / 100 90 20 20
&&
.SJU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PR...TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR CENTRAL INTERIOR-EASTERN INTERIOR-
MAYAGUEZ AND VICINITY-NORTH CENTRAL-NORTHEAST-NORTHWEST-
PONCE AND VICINITY-SAN JUAN AND VICINITY-SOUTHEAST-
SOUTHWEST-WESTERN INTERIOR.
FLASH FLOOD WATCH FROM 8 PM AST THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY
EVENING FOR CENTRAL INTERIOR-CULEBRA-EASTERN INTERIOR-
MAYAGUEZ AND VICINITY-NORTH CENTRAL-NORTHEAST-NORTHWEST-
PONCE AND VICINITY-SAN JUAN AND VICINITY-SOUTHEAST-
SOUTHWEST-VIEQUES-WESTERN INTERIOR.
TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR CULEBRA-VIEQUES.
VI...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FROM 8 PM AST THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY
EVENING FOR ST CROIX-ST. THOMAS/ST. JOHN/ADJACENT ISLANDS.
TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR ST CROIX-ST. THOMAS/ST. JOHN/ADJACENT
ISLANDS.
COASTAL WATERS...
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM AST THURSDAY FOR ATLC WATERS OF
PUERTO RICO AND USVI FROM 10NM TO 19.5N-COASTAL WATERS OF
NORTHERN PUERTO RICO OUT 10 NM-COASTAL WATERS OF NORTHERN
USVI AND CULEBRA OUT 10 NM.
&&
AC/23HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR 127 PM AST TUE JUL 9 2013 AMZ710>745-PRZ001>013-101730- SAN JUAN AND VICINITY-NORTHEAST-SOUTHEAST-EASTERN INTERIOR- NORTH CENTRAL-CENTRAL INTERIOR-PONCE AND VICINITY-NORTHWEST- WESTERN INTERIOR-MAYAGUEZ AND VICINITY-SOUTHWEST-CULEBRA-VIEQUES- THE NEARSHORE AND OFF SHORE ATLANTIC AND CARIBBEAN COASTAL WATERS- 127 PM AST TUE JUL 9 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PUERTO RICO AND THE ADJACENT ATLANTIC COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ...TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MAINLAND PUERTO RICO... ...TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CULEBRA AND VIEQUES... TROPICAL STORM CHANTAL APPROACHING THE LOCAL AREA. PLEASE MONITOR TROPICAL PRODUCTS FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY TROPICAL STORM CHANTAL WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT PORTIONS OF PUERTO RICO THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...ANY REPORTS OF WIND DAMAGE OR FLOODING WILL BE APPRECIATED. AMZ715-725-VIZ001-002-101730- ST. THOMAS ST. JOHN ADJACENT ISLANDS-ST CROIX- NEARSHORE ATLANTIC AND ADJACENT CARIBBEAN COASTAL WATERS- 127 PM AST TUE JUL 9 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ...A TROPICAL STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT... TROPICAL STORM CHANTAL APPROACHING THE LOCAL AREA...PLEASE MONITOR TROPICAL PRODUCTS FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY TROPICAL STORM CHANTAL WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT PORTIONS OF THE LOCAL ISLANDS THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ANY REPORTS OF WIND DAMAGE OR FLOODING WILL BE APPRECIATED.
The San Juan radar (TJUA), 144 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:19 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A downed tree was reported on major Highway across mid island.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in U.S. Virgin Islands in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in U.S. Virgin Islands, July 2013
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: 468726.