Tropical Storm Bret was a strong tropical storm that brought gusty conditions and impacts to the

Windward Islands The Windward Islands are the southern, generally larger islands of the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean islands or the West Indies. Located approximately between latitudes 10° and 16° N and longitudes 60° and 62° W, they extend from D ...

and parts of Northern South America. The second

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of the very active

2023 Atlantic hurricane season The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season was the fourth-most active Atlantic hurricane season on record with 20 tropical cyclone naming, named storms forming, tied with 1933 Atlantic hurricane season, 1933. Among them, 7 became hurricanes, ...

, Bret developed from a tropical wave that moved away from the coast of

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and formed east of

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

on June 19. Slow development occurred and the system intensified into a tropical storm. Bret continued to drift west and passed directly over Saint Vincent as it continued to move into the Caribbean. As it entered the Windward Islands,

hurricane hunters Hurricane hunters, typhoon hunters, or cyclone hunters are aircrews that fly into tropical cyclones to gather weather data. In the United States, the organizations that fly these missions are the United States Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather ...

found that Bret had sustained winds of 70 mph (110 km/h) and a central pressure of 996 mbar (29.4 inHg). For the remainder of the day on June 23, Bret left the islands and passed north of

Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...

on June 24. As the storm passed Aruba, it began to weaken; it opened into a trough near

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, marking its dissipation. As Bret passed through the Windward Islands, many impacts were reported in some of the islands in the area. Many houses and buildings were damaged in

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sometimes known simply as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the south ...

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

, and Barbados. In Saint Lucia, much of the electrical grid was knocked out by Bret. Overall, damage from Bret was over

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445,000.

Meteorological history

On June 15, the NHC started to monitor a

tropical wave A tropical wave (also called easterly wave, tropical easterly wave, and African easterly wave), in and around the Atlantic Ocean, is a type of atmospheric trough, an elongated area of relatively low air pressure, oriented north to south, which ...

that was about to move off the coast of

into the Atlantic Ocean. The disturbance became better organized due to warm sea surface temperatures and favorable atmospheric conditions as it drifted westward towards the Caribbean. On the morning of June 19, the disturbance organized into Tropical Depression Three about east of

, and strengthened into Tropical Storm Bret that afternoon. Gradual intensification occurred during the next couple of days as it headed west towards the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

. Hurricane hunters investigated Bret early on June 22 and found sustained winds of and a central pressure of . Soon after, Bret moved into an area of increased vertical wind shear, causing it to gradually weaken as it moved across the Lesser Antilles. Overnight on June 22–23, it passed just north of

and directly over

St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305 ...

with sustained winds of . Next, during the early hours of June 24, Bret passed just to the north of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao as a weakening storm with an exposed low-level center, and soon opened into a trough near the

Guajira Peninsula The Guajira Peninsula (, also spelled ''Goajira'', mainly in colonial period texts, ) is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean. It is the northernmost peninsula in South America and has an area of exte ...

. The remnant wave later crossed into

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, contributing to the formation of Hurricane Beatriz.

Preparations and impact

Preparations

Tropical storm warnings were issued in the Lesser Antilles in preparation for Bret. Multiple of

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and

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flights leaving

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were cancelled due to Bret. Schools and nursuries were shut down in preparation for Bret, and people across Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines were urged to go to shelters to stay safe. Martinique issued a "red alert" as the storm approached. Along the Caribbean coast of

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, small fishing boats were prohibited from leaving the country due to stormy conditions. The La Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia was placed on high alert due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Bret.

Impact

Both

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

and

both reported gusty conditions that knocked down trees and powerlines.

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on Barbados reported a sustained wind of 44 mph (70 km/h) and a gust to 56 mph (91 km/h) in thunderstorm activity well to the east of Bret's center. There were also 13 specific reports of damage on the island, including roof damage and flooding. Multiple inches of rain fell onto the islands as Bret passed. Hewanorra International Airport on

reported a wind gust of 69 mph (111 km/h) at 05:00 UTC on June 23, and officials reported that much of the island's electrical grid had been knocked out by the storm. The same conditions were also reported in

Vieux Fort Vieux Fort is one of 10 districts of the Caribbean island country of Saint Lucia. Vieux Fort is also the name of the main town in the district. It is the home of the second-largest town in Saint Lucia and is the home of Saint Lucia's internati ...

. Many homes were also damaged in Saint Vincent. Buildings in Barbados were also damaged, and high waves battered the coast of the island, damaging many things set up along the island's coast. In Martinique, four people were hospitalized after their

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

sank during the storm, while in Saint Lucia, one house was completely swept away and others were severely damaged. Over 130 people on Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent alone needed shelter due to the damage caused on homes by the storm. The southern half of the island of

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

saw gusty winds, but other than scattered floods, no damage was reported in the country. As far south as

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

also saw heavy rainfall, mudslides and floods attributed to Tropical Storm Bret. In

, the village of Arashi Beach experienced rainfall as the storm passed by. Power outages and flooding in many parts of the island resulted from Bret, and impacts in Aruba were generally minimal.

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

saw rainfall, though no warnings were issued due to the storm. Damage from Tropical Storm Bret totaled over $445,000, most of it in St. Lucia.

Notes

References