A double-barreled area of disturbed weather in the Caribbean is bringing a flash flooding threat to some areas and hopes of drought relief to others.

A broad area of low pressure continues to generate rounds of heavy rain from portions of Jamaica to Haiti, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

It seems this broad low will break into two pieces as the week progresses. One piece will break off and run to the northeast into the central Atlantic, while the other will stay near the west-central Caribbean for a few days and may then wander northward across Cuba and near southern Florida later.

The smaller islands, such as the Lesser Antilles, rely on tropical systems to deliver rainfall as most of these land areas are too small to generate their own thunderstorm activity.

However, when such a slow-moving system occurs, beneficial rainfall can easily become a disaster with inches of rain falling in hours leading to mudslides, washouts and flash flooding.

As one piece of the disturbed area runs northeastward, areas of heavy rain will continue around Hispaniola through the Lesser Antilles through Wednesday.

It is possible that during the second half of the week the rain will diminish from west to east across this area as the feature moves away into the central Atlantic.

Meanwhile, the remaining feature could become the season’s first tropical depression over the coming week.

This feature has and will continue to cycle through phases showing some development and organization then episodes of weakening.

According to Senior Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski, “It is possible that during one of these pulses, we get our first Atlantic tropical depression of the season.”

This main low pressure area seems likely to linger for a few days in the western Caribbean. Later, one of the possible tracks will take the system northward across Cuba then toward Florida spanning late this week into early next week.

As long as the system does not become too strong, which does not appear likely, rainfall could be beneficial for these areas.

Many parts of Cuba have only received a few inches of rain since the start of the year.

The island nation is suffering through a multi-year drought which has taken its toll on crops and lifestyle.

Even many parts of southern Florida and the Keys are in need of rainfall, thanks to the late-arriving, or as of yet no-show, rainy season.

Remember, however, that even a weak tropical system can bring localized strong winds from clusters of powerful thunderstorms.

Such systems have caught people by surprise in the past, especially pleasure boating interests.