USVI-On-Line

I just read somewhere that Tortola is very dusty and brown due to lack of rain
So anyone that is there now or just got back What does STJ look like?

I am not there now (wish I was, dry or not!), but did notice this article online this morning....
http://www.on-stjohn.com/2015/05/26/vir ... -shortage/

Parched, brown, no leaves, dry, dusty and desperately in need of rain !! In 10 years I don't think I have seen it this bad.

Pia

Wow. That's terrible. Any signs of rain in the future?

Here's what my tenant said about the water situation.
"The other issue is water. I'm sure you guys have seen the news online. We haven't had rain in months. Not one good April shower! The pool level got below the filter eventually so we just turned it off. All the leaves were falling off the trees at an alarming rate anyway and it kept getting clogged within hours! Our little island is brown. Our trees are now bare. We haven't had to cut the lawn though! We've still got some water in the cistern, but we're pretty good at conserving. It's about 1.5 feet below normal. Sorry about all of this, we just kept waiting on a shower and it never happened so we decided to save money and wait for rain. This is not normal for this time of year! We usually get an occasional thunderstorm in May which is always nice."
We'll be down there next week to get a better lay of the land.
Meantime, conservation is the way to go even if you're there on vacation.

Water supply is critically low. If you are visiting, please take an island style shower. Turn on water, get wet, turn off water, soap up, turn on water to rinse.

Don't take a morning shower just to wake up. Especially if you are going to the beach that day because you will want a shower after the beach. Keep your showering to one island style per day.

Also, no need to flush after a little pee.

When on island do as the islanders do.

When on island do as the islanders do.

It certainly depends where your residence is located on the islands here in the USVI - it has rained a fair amount at my house the last few weeks and things are green and I haven't had to even water the plants on the porch lately.
What islanders do:
We rarely build houses with swimming pools or hot tubs
We rarely build homes with more bathrooms than bedrooms
We always practice conservative water use unless the cistern is overflowing, then we go a bit nutty with usage!
We keep a bucket in the shower to catch water, if we run it to get warm we save the water for a flush later that day and catch some that comes off our body while showering.
We always listen when the pressure pump goes on to make sure there is no leaking somewhere.
We have low flow toilets and shower heads.
We build sustainable homes, with roof areas that can supply a large enough cistern, maintain the gutters and intakes, drink our cistern water and are vigilant to excess about our water and hope we never see a water truck.
I have been in this house for 35 years and never once purchased water, raised a family here and have a rental apt. - high on the NW side Of Crown Mt. STT.

Got here Sunday.
Had rain for about an hour on tues at maho and rained wed am for about an hour.
We are in coral bay not sure about the rest of the island though.

Now that is really sad

Heavy rains are forcast for Friday Saturday and Sunday this week - here's hoping

Pia

Pia wrote:Heavy rains are forcast for Friday Saturday and Sunday this week - here's hoping

Pia

Pia we are going to be on Yost next Sat and Sat night are you going over

I'm coming from Texas in a couple of weeks. I'm sure the rain will follow us over there. I just hope the mosquitos don't follow us...

Pia wrote:Heavy rains are forcast for Friday Saturday and Sunday this week - here's hoping

Pia

Figures...we arrive Saturday. Hopefully STJ won't get what we had in Houston on Memorial Day. I don't wish 12 inches of rain in less than 24 hours on anyone.

You can watch the weather system arriving here:
http://wwwghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/ge ... mframes=11
with a really zoomed in view here: http://www.vi-satweather.com
A wet day or two can be an annoying percentage of a week's stay, but the island's cisterns, plants, and animals could sorely use the water. The large flamboyant at Coconuts has lost all of its leaves, and if it doesn't get water soon, it will be unlikely to bloom this summer. In the best scenario, the heavy rains will arrive at night. We love the patter of night-time rain on the metal roofs, with the cypress underneath toning down what would otherwise be a roar.

[Edit Saturday morning: Well, a front did pass over St. John yesterday and last night, and satellite imagery showed a flurry of cold topped, blue, green and yellow color-coded clouds streaming from SW to NE. Judging from what I saw on the Spice Cam, though, visitors on island at most experienced a few frightening hours of overcast skies, in between regular outbreaks of sunshine, and barely a drop (0.02" according to one personal weather station) of rain. Sheesh! We were really hoping for at least one sustained downpour.]

All the best,

Kevin

Just looked at the Spice Cam and although it looks a little overcast, it doesn't look wet. Any showers yet on St John? Hope you folks get some rain soon to fill the cisterns and halo the foliage!