Let It Rain

Travel discussion for St. John
jimg20
Posts: 1840
Joined: Mon May 28, 2007 11:43 am
Location: Fayetteville, AR

Let It Rain

Post by jimg20 »

The weather radar and the web cams seem to indicate that it's trying to rain. Any luck yet?

JIM
Man it's like some dream we live down here....

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Pia
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Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:38 pm
Location: St John

Re: Let It Rain

Post by Pia »

Nope :(

Pia
Realtor - St John Properties
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Chris @ Work
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Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2006 3:46 pm
Location: League City, TX

Re: Let It Rain

Post by Chris @ Work »

A few passing showers but nothing of significance. I know the islands need it but if it can wait until we leave this Saturday (hopefully without the airport issues raised on the other thread) we are okay with that. Would not like the onslaught of mosquitoes following a good rain.
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Coconuts
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Location: Southern NH, USA

Re: Let It Rain

Post by Coconuts »

Chris: You're safe either way; it takes 8-14 days after a heavy rain for eggs laid in a dry period to complete their larvae and pupae stages before a bloom can hatch out. The island could really use a heavy rain, but what infrequent passing showers we do get have had virtually no accumulation; 0.01-0.02" at a time has been about it. May usually provides over 4" of rain, but not this year, which is the worst that we can recall. We get our water from the desalination plant at Caneel, and at nearly $500 per load, water deliveries have managed to surpass WAPA on our utility bills.

All the best,

Kevin
jimg20
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Joined: Mon May 28, 2007 11:43 am
Location: Fayetteville, AR

Re: Let It Rain

Post by jimg20 »

For the villa folks, how long will a 4,000 gallon delivery of water last on the average? I know there are many variables, such as number of days occupied, the number of guests at a given time and how careful and considerate they are.

JIM
Man it's like some dream we live down here....

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Coconuts
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Location: Southern NH, USA

Re: Let It Rain

Post by Coconuts »

Jim: We have had to call for six 5,300 gallon water deliveries between our two villas since mid-April, with a mix of guest head counts, and nearly full bookings. Both villas have a lot of roof area, eight times the cistern surface area at Coconuts, and over five times at Plumeria (so 1" of rain = 8" or 5" in the cisterns), but it has been a long time since we had any rain of consequence. June and July are usually pretty dry months, so it likely won't be until we get some passing storms in August and September that the water truck parade will slow down. Residents are much better at water conservation than visitors, but even they are coping with unexpected bills when they run low. It hasn't quite reached "Dune" territory yet, but I heard that some East-enders have started working on stillsuits :wink:

All the best,

Kevin
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loria
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Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2008 3:33 pm
Location: NY

Re: Let It Rain

Post by loria »

COconuts.. we will be on delivery number 7 (and way out in coral bay ) this week .
this has surpassed WAPA ... and then some! (and this is one house!) -- i am wondering if we have a leak somewhere... but so far... nothing!
< leaving on the 22nd of march...but too lame to figure out the ticker thing again!>
Bushwacker
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2013 11:50 am
Location: Texas

Re: Let It Rain

Post by Bushwacker »

I hope you get the rain soon. We went through a drought that lasted years here in Texas, that only just officially ended with our recent floods. It was devastating to watch hundreds year old Oak trees, and entire acres of huge Pines die off.

I always bring rain with me wherever I vacation, STJ included. I'd gladly take one for the team, but we won't be there for another six months.
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Teresa_Rae
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Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:44 pm
Location: Downstate IL

Re: Let It Rain

Post by Teresa_Rae »

Kevin, do you envision villa owners not filling their pools? I don't mean locals who live on STJ full-time, but owners who rent out their properties?
Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
- Mark Twain
Coconuts
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Location: Southern NH, USA

Re: Let It Rain

Post by Coconuts »

Teresa: It's hard to imagine things getting to that point. There's no actual shortage of water, which is produced via desalination, "just" the added expense to buy loads so often. If you don't top up the pool, which loses water to evaporation, the skimmer will start sucking air, and owners would be unlikely to decide to drain their pools, since that would really impact rentals, be unsafe, and breed mosquitoes once it does rain.

Loria: Your rate of water use does seem pretty high; you should monitor the cistern level during an unbooked period to make sure that you don't have a leak. I found a nice cistern gauge, which we have used for years at both villas and really like; they carry them over on STT at Interiors, which is moving this month from the Fort Mylner complex to their new, larger digs next to MSI Building Supplies. You just jab the bulb a few times, and read the water level in inches. "90" = Full; 30" = Fill". It was designed by Harold Trosley on St. Thomas; he is no longer with us, but his cistern gauge is still produced. Here's a link and a photo:

http://cisternwatergauge.com
Cistern gauge
Cistern gauge
There was an article on St. John's drought in the Virgin Islands Daily News this weekend:

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/ ... -1.1894247

All the best,

Kevin
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Teresa_Rae
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Location: Downstate IL

Re: Let It Rain

Post by Teresa_Rae »

Ok, thanks Kevin. For our upcoming trip this summer, we paid quite a bit extra to have a pool since our 2 year old naps for about 3 hours a day so I've been wondering about the pool situation after reading that some locals are not refilling their pools.
Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
- Mark Twain
jaybfloyd
Posts: 150
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2013 12:48 pm
Location: Maryland

Re: Let It Rain

Post by jaybfloyd »

Skies open up yet??
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burgec
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Location: Kentucky

Re: Let It Rain

Post by burgec »

North Shore webcam indicates there are at least some showers in the area?
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Bluestreak12
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Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 7:32 pm

Re: Let It Rain

Post by Bluestreak12 »

Just received this from Vitema:

..This is an ACTUAL SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT ALERT...


Issued By: VITEMA
Affected Jurisdictions: St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas, Water Island Counties

Headline: Tropical Wave Producing Showers, Thunderstorms, Strong Winds Across the VI Today through Tuesday Afternoon

A tropical wave is currently tracking through the central and northern Lesser Antilles and is producing strong showers and thunderstorms and wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour. The Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico will be impacted by the tropical wave from today through Tuesday afternoon. The system is expecting to produce 1 to 2 inches of rain.



VITEMA is advising the public to monitor weather reports via radio, television or the NOAA weather radio. Motorists are also advised to proceed cautiously along roadways.
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waterbug
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Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:25 am
Location: TN

Re: Let It Rain

Post by waterbug »

It has been raining on and off today. Just saw some lightning. I have never seen it so dry and brown.
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