Despite its winds never exceeding 50 mph in 11 days as a tropical storm, Philippe isn’t treading lightly.
The disorganized storm continues to drag a long tail of heavy rainfall across parts of the eastern Caribbean, flooding areas from Anguilla in the north to Guadeloupe and Dominica in the south beginning late Monday into Tuesday.
The heavy rains have spread northward into the U.S. Virgin Islands and eastern Puerto Rico this morning where radar estimates show widespread totals of 3 to 6 inches around the islands, with higher totals just offshore.
Conditions in the islands should gradually improve on Wednesday as Philippe pulls away to the north.
Though the storm will accelerate northward on Thursday, making its closest approach to Bermuda on Friday, it’s not expected to strengthen much in the days ahead. Tropical Storm Watches will likely be issued for Bermuda later today in anticipation of tropical storm winds (39 mph or stronger) affecting the archipelago later this week. The main threats to Bermuda will be heavy rain and high surf.
Philippe will then begin the process of transitioning to an extratropical cyclone as it heads up into the Canadian Maritimes and northern New England. Though Philippe is not expected to maintain its designation as a tropical cyclone, the residual moisture may add to heavy rain and flood concerns for these areas over the weekend.
Otherwise, it looks like we may finally get a break after a very active period across the tropical Atlantic. No new tropical systems are expected at least through early next week.