The National Weather Service (NWS) office in San Juan issued a flash flood warning on Friday, November 6, for the western Puerto Rico towns of Cabo Rojo, Hormigueros, Lajas, Las Marías, Maricao, Mayagüez and San Germán, in effect until 3:15 PM. The agency said the warned area has already received between one and three inches of rain, with another one to two inches possible. Doppler radar detected thunderstorms producing heavy rain over the area at 12:55 PM, and the NWS warned drivers to turn around on flooded roads rather than cross them, noting that most flood-related deaths occur inside vehicles.
Earlier, the federal agency said a moisture pattern and atmospheric instability would keep conditions favorable for showers and thunderstorms across the archipelago. A trough north of Hispaniola, together with a low-pressure system, has disrupted the usual trade wind pattern, favoring precipitation. Showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop mainly in the afternoons along the Cordillera Central and move toward the central-north, northeast and east of Puerto Rico, including the San Juan metropolitan area, with showers also possible in southern and western sectors.
The chance of rain is 70 percent, with estimated accumulations of half to three-quarters of an inch. Unsettled conditions will last through Sunday.