Special Weather Statement issued March 24 at 5:41PM ChST by NWS Tiyan GU

A newly-forming weak tropical disturbance, known as JTWC’s Invest
96W, is centered southwest of Palau near 5N132E. This system is
expected to shift to the northwest overnight, exiting the region
sometime Tuesday.

In addition, an overall increase in Near-Equatorial Trough (NET)
activity will continue to bring an unsettled weather pattern in far
western Micronesia for the next few days. 96W will help direct deep
tropical moisture into the region, and combined with strengthening
trade-wind convergence in its wake, is expected to generate numerous
to widespread heavy showers and some thunderstorms across Yap and
Palau overnight through Tuesday.

This rain event will continue to produce a risk for flooding impacts.
Between 4 and 6 inches of rain are expected at Palau and Yap through
Tuesday. There remains high uncertainty in the coverage and timing
of showers due to the developing system being poorly organized. If
the system slows in its forward motion and consolidates earlier,
rainfall amounts may be even higher. The risk of mudslides is still
low, but will be monitored over the next few days if the soils become
saturated and rains continue. Showers are not expected to taper down
significantly until Tuesday night, after which 96W will be farther
away and NET activity is expected to decrease, allowing weather to
gradually improve.