A stationary front was draped from eastern Cuba southwestward through the southwest Caribbean Sea.  An
area of low pressure formed in the frontal zone on the 1st just north of Panama, and remained nearly stationary
over the next couple days.  The front separated from the surface low and convection increased, possibly due to
the movement of a tropical wave into the area.  By the morning of the 4th, it had developed into the first December
tropical depression for the Caribbean Sea since 1985.   By that afternoon, it had developed into the first known
tropical storm on record for the Caribbean Sea for the month of December.  Odette became a moderately strong
tropical storm on the 6th before making landfall on the Barahona peninsula of the Dominican Republic that
evening.  Odette accelerated northeastward, becoming a frontal wave on the afternoon of the 7th.  Rainfall
information was obtained from the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, NC.