The short-lived tropical storm Nicole lashed Jamaica on Wednesday, leaving at least nine people dead and many others are still missing. The storm triggered flash-flooding in some areas in Jamaica while it caused dumped heavy rain on Cuba, Florida, Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.
The deadly storm was formed on Wednesday morning as it disappeared on Wednesday afternoon. Its short-lived occurrence deemed U.S and Cuban meteorologist to disagree on whether it is a tropical storm at all.
According to the weather forecasters from the U.S National Hurricane Center located in Miami, Nicole’s peak sustained winds were running at 40 miles per hour. This is just one mile per hour more than the 39 mph threshold for it to be called as storm.
However, Jorge Rubiera, Cuba’s top meteorologist said that the tropical storm did not exist. Cuban forecasters said that Nicole’s top winds as it reached their island was only 37 mph.
But, U.S forecasters believed that Nicole has a poorly defined circulation center, and that it has a marginal system. Cuban forecasters think that it is not a storm since they are on the other side of the margin.
Nicole dissipated into thunderstorms and was forecast to travel north to northeast over the Atlantic on Wednesday night. By Friday, it would arrive in U.S Mid-Atlantic States.
The storm caused sudden floods that drowned a teenage boy, two elderly men and a family of six. There were several roads blocked with mudslides and standing water, the bridges collapsed and several farmers lost crops and livestock. The storm also caused power shutdown over 300,000 households.
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