1986 Jamaica Floods

Date: May 24, 1986 • Location: Rome, Italy

A stationary front began over the central Caribbean Sea, leading to severe floods that over two weeks killed dozens of people in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica.

A stationary front is a weather front or transition zone between two air masses when each air mass is advancing into the other at speeds less than 5 knots at the ground surface. These fronts are typically depicted on weather maps as a solid line with alternating blue spikes and red domes.