Authorities in Trinidad and Grenada have lifted tropical storm warnings for the two countries as Potential Cyclone Two lashed the southeastern Caribbean with strong winds and heavy rains well into the night.

The National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA) issued an ‘all clear’ for Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique on Wednesday (June 29), advising citizens that work and schools return to their regular scheduling.

“As the assessment of the impact continues, some institutions may need to make individual decisions on operations as their situation dictates. NaDMA encourages all to be vigilant and cautious while moving around,” the agency said in a Facebook statement.

The Grenada Meteorological Office further cautioned nationals that although the tropical storm warning has been lifted, “flooding & flash flooding, landslides & rock falls, small broken branches and rough seas” could still pose a danger to life and property.

Meanwhile, the Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service said with the discontinuation of the tropical storm warning for the twin-island republic, the impact of Potential Cyclone Two was kept relatively low.

“Whilst parts of Tobago and eastern Trinidad received rainfall from this event, Grenada got the brunt of it, with flooding reported in some areas and wind gusts up to 118 kilometres/hour],” the agency advised in its final bulletin.

“After the passage of this strong tropical wave, the atmosphere [over Trinidad] remains generally moist and unstable so there is still the likelihood for impactful weather today. As a result, an adverse weather alert is in effect until 6:00 pm,” the Trinidad and Tobago Met Service added.

As at 8:00 am Atlantic Standard Time (AST), the centre of Potential Cyclone Two was located near latitude 11.4 North and longitude 66.4 West—or roughly 300 kilometres east-southeast of Curaçao.

Little has changed for the cyclone in terms of strength, still packing maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometres/hour, with higher gusts. Its forward speed has increased dramatically, however, now clocking in at 48 kilometres/hour on a westerly path.

The US-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) has advised that new tropical storm warnings are in effect for: Aruba; Bonaire; Curaçao; Islas de Margarita, Coche and Cubagua; sections of the Venezuelan coast from the Peninsula de Paraguana westward to its border with Colombia, including the Gulf of Venezuela; as well as from the Colombia/Venezuela border westward to Santa Marta.

A tropical storm watch is also activated for the Caribbean coast of Venezuela from Pedernales to Cumana.

In the meantime, NHC meteorologists are forecasting Potential Cyclone Two to pass near the southern Caribbean Sea and the northern coast of Venezuela today, near the Guajira Peninsula of Colombia early Thursday and over the southwestern Caribbean Sea on Friday.

“Some strengthening is [expected] during the next few days while the disturbance remains over water. Conditions appear conducive for development while the disturbance remains over water, and it is expected become a tropical storm while moving westward across the southern Caribbean Sea,” the NHC disclosed.

Tropical Storm Bonnie, the second named storm of the 2022 Hurricane Season, is heavily tipped to emerge this afternoon, as the NHC’s probability rate remains ‘high’ at 80 per cent and 90 per cent respectively over the next two to five days.

However, previous projections by the NHC of Bonnie intensifying into the season’s first hurricane have been abandoned.

The Jamaica Meteorological Service, which continues to monitor the progress of Potential Cyclone Two, maintains the system does not pose a direct threat to the island.

Elsewhere, weather sleuths are still keeping tabs on two more disturbances—one in the central tropical Atlantic and another in the Gulf of Mexico.

In the gulf, a disorganised area of low pressure resumes efforts at further strengthening as the NHC has upgraded development chances to 40 per cent over the next five days.

While its observations note little change from yesterday, the NHC says “some slow development is still possible, and it could become a short-lived tropical depression near the [Texas] coast before it moves inland tonight or early Thursday”.

Out in the open ocean, on its approach to the fringes of the Caribbean, the NHC indicated that the second tropical wave is forecast to move over the Windward Islands late Friday or early Saturday and then over the eastern Caribbean Sea by the weekend, where further development is unlikely due to unfavourable environmental conditions.

• READ: Potential Cyclone Two first takes aim at Trinidad and Tobago