SPI Monitor May 2010

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Disclaimer

The information contained herein is provided with the understanding that The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or suitability of the Outlook. The information may be used freely by the public with appropriate acknowledgement of its source, but shall not be modified in content and then presented as original material.

Discussion

May 2010

The islands from Dominica northward experienced near normal conditions. Barbados and Guyana also experienced near normal conditions. Southward of Dominica the islands were above normal with Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada being very to extremely wet. The Dominican Republic was near normal. Further to the west, Jamaica experienced moderate to very wet conditions, whilst Belize experienced conditions ranging from near normal in the south to extremely wet in the north. The Cayman Islands was near normal.

March 2009 to May 2010

For the three month period ending May 2010, the majority of the islands of the eastern Caribbean experienced moderately wet conditions. The exceptions to this were Barbados and the islands of the extreme northern Leeward that were near normal for the period; and Trinidad and Tobago that experienced moderate to extremely wet (in Tobago) conditions. Guyana was near normal. Apart from the northwest portion of the country that was moderately dry, the Dominican Republic was near normal. Both Belize and Jamaica were moderate to very wet. Cayman Islands was near normal.

December 2009 to May 2010

For the six month period December 2009 to May 2010, the islands of the eastern Caribbean were near normal with the exception of Barbados, which was moderately dry and St Kitts that was moderately wet. Both Guyana and the Dominican Republic were near normal. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from near normal in the west to very wet in the east. Belize was near normal to moderately wet. The Cayman Islands was near normal.

June 2009 to May 2010

The eastern Caribbean was predominantly near normal with the exception of Grenada that was extremely dry and Barbados that was moderately dry. Guyana ranged from near normal in the west to moderately dry in the east. The Eastern Dominican Republic was moderately dry with the rest of the island being near normal. Both Jamaica and the Cayman Islands experienced near normal conditions. Conditions in Belize ranged from near normal in the south to very wet in the north.

The maps produced used SPI values calculated from monthly rainfall totals from land stations and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. Only land station data is used for the eastern Caribbean , described here as from Georgetown Guyana in the south to Anguilla in the north. The Greater (and Western) Antilles is less represented by land stations. However efforts are being made to include more land stations from that part of the region. Note that the severity implied by the index is relative to what is normal for that period of consideration. Normal in the drier season reflects less rainfall than in the wetter season.

SPI Monitor April 2010

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Disclaimer

The information contained herein is provided with the understanding that The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or suitability of the Outlook. The information may be used freely by the public with appropriate acknowledgement of its source, but shall not be modified in content and then presented as original material.

Discussion

April 2010

The middle two weeks of April 2010 provided the region, in particular, the eastern Caribbean, with high rainfall and welcomed relief from the drought conditions. The eastern Caribbean, including Guyana, experienced conditions ranging from, near normal (in the negative in Tobago) to extremely wet in Dominica. The Dominican Republic was also near normal. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from near normal in the west to moderately wet in the east. In Belize, conditions were near normal in the north to moderately wet in the southwest.

February  to April 2010

For the 3 month period, the southern portion of the eastern chain (particularly Grenada and Tobago) showed drier conditions than the northern portion. This was predominantly due to the high rainfall experienced in the middle two weeks of April. North of the Grenadines, the chain was near normal to extremely wet for the period. Guyana was near normal for the period. The western portion of the Dominican Republic was below normal whilst the eastern portion was normal. The western portion of Jamaica was normal whilst the eastern portion was moderately wet. Further to the west, Cayman Islands and Belize were normal.

November 2009 to April 2010

For the six month period, the southern portion of the eastern chain, from Trinidad northward to St. Vincent and Barbados, was severe to extremely dry. The remainder of the eastern chain was near normal. Guyana was normal in the west and moderately dry in the east. Apart from an area in the northeast that was moderately dry, the Dominican Republic was generally near normal for the period. Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Belize were all near normal for the period.

May 2009 to April 2010

From the period May 2009 to April 2010, Trinidad and Grenada experienced severe to extremely dry conditions. Barbados and St. Lucia were moderately dry. The remainder of the eastern portion of the chain was normal. Guyana was normal to the north to extremely dry in the south. Apart from the eastern portion of the country that was moderately dry, Dominican Republic was normal. Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Belize were all normal for the period.

The maps produced used SPI values calculated from monthly rainfall totals from land stations and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. Only land station data is used for the eastern Caribbean , described here as from Georgetown Guyana in the south to Anguilla in the north. The Greater (and Western) Antilles is less represented by land stations. However efforts are being made to include more land stations from that part of the region. Note that the severity implied by the index is relative to what is normal for that period of consideration. Normal in the drier season reflects less rainfall than in the wetter season.

SPI Monitor March 2010

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Disclaimer

The information contained herein is provided with the understanding that The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or suitability of the Outlook. The information may be used freely by the public with appropriate acknowledgement of its source, but shall not be modified in content and then presented as original material.

Discussion

March 2011

In March 2010, Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada were moderately to severely below normal. The remainder of the eastern portion of the region, except St. Kitts, was normal according to the index albeit on the negative end of normal. St. Kitts was very wet. The Dominican Republic was moderately dry in the east and normal (on the negative end) in the west. Further to the West, Jamaica was normal to moderately wet, Cayman Islands were normal to moderately dry whilst Belize was moderately wet in the north to severely dry in the south west.

January 2010 to March 2010

The majority of the eastern Caribbean was severely to extremely dry. Guyana ranged from normal in the west to extremely dry in the east. St. Lucia, Antigua and Anguilla were moderately dry whilst St. Kitts was normal. The Dominican Republic ranged from normal in the west to moderately dry in the east. Further to the west, Jamaica and Cayman were normal whilst Belize was normal apart from the western portion, which was moderately dry.

October 2009 to March 2010

For the six month period, From Trinidad in the south to Dominica further north experienced severely to extremely dry conditions. Antigua was moderately dry whilst St. Kitts and Anguilla were normal. Guyana ranged from normal in the west to extremely dry in the east. The Dominican Republic experienced normal conditions in the west and moderately dry conditions in the east. Both Jamaica and Cayman Islands were normal for this period. Belize was normal apart from the western portion of the country.

April 2009 to March 2010

For this period, Trinidad and Grenada were severely to extremely dry. The remainder of the eastern portion of the island chain was normal. Guyana ranged from normal to the north to extremely dry going south eastward. The western Caribbean, including Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Belize, was normal. Hispaniola was mostly normal apart from the northeast portion of the Dominican Republic.

The maps produced used SPI values calculated from monthly rainfall totals from land stations and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. Only land station data is used for the eastern Caribbean , described here as from Georgetown Guyana in the south to Anguilla in the north. The Greater (and Western) Antilles is less represented by land stations. However efforts are being made to include more land stations from that part of the region. Note that the severity implied by the index is relative to what is normal for that period of consideration. Normal in the drier season reflects less rainfall than in the wetter season.

SPI Monitor February 2010

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Disclaimer

The information contained herein is provided with the understanding that The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or suitability of the Outlook. The information may be used freely by the public with appropriate acknowledgement of its source, but shall not be modified in content and then presented as original material.

Discussion

February 2010

In February 2010 most of the eastern Caribbean, from Trinidad in the south to Dominica, experienced extremely dry conditions. Many stations in the eastern Caribbean recorded their lowest rainfall in recorded history. Other eastern Caribbean territories experienced moderately to severely dry conditions except in the vicinity of St. Kitts, which experienced heavy rainfall from a frontal passage over a 24 hour period, but had until the 24th of the month experienced less than 1 mm of rainfall. The eastern portion of Guyana experienced moderately dry conditions. Hispaniola experienced normal to moderately dry conditions. The remainder of the western Caribbean, including Belize, Cayman Islands and Jamaica, was normal.

December 2009 to February 2010

During this three month period, similar to February, from Trinidad to Dominica (except St. Lucia) experienced extremely dry conditions. The remainder of the eastern Caribbean experienced moderately to severely dry conditions except in the vicinity of St. Kitts. The eastern portion of Guyana experienced moderately to extremely dry conditions. As one moved from the west of Jamaica conditions were normal to very wet. The remainder of the Caribbean was normal.

September 2009 to February 2010

From Trinidad to St. Lucia St. Lucia in the eastern Caribbean, extremely dry conditions were experienced during this six month period. North of St. Lucia to Antigua experienced moderately to severely dry conditions. The remainder of the eastern Caribbean was normal. Apart from moderately dry conditions in the eastern Dominican Republic and western Belize, the western portion of the region, including the remainder of Hispaniola and Belize, and Jamaica and Cayman Islands were normal.

March 2009 to February 2010

Apart from the vicinity of Grenada that experienced severely to extremely dry conditions, and central Guyana that was moderately dry, the Caribbean was normal.

The maps produced used SPI values calculated from monthly rainfall totals from land stations and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. Only land station data is used for the eastern Caribbean , described here as from Georgetown Guyana in the south to Anguilla in the north. The Greater (and Western) Antilles is less represented by land stations. However efforts are being made to include more land stations from that part of the region. Note that the severity implied by the index is relative to what is normal for that period of consideration. Normal in the drier season reflects less rainfall than in the wetter season.

SPI Monitor January 2010

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Disclaimer

The information contained herein is provided with the understanding that The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, concerning the accuracy, completeness, reliability, or suitability of the Outlook. The information may be used freely by the public with appropriate acknowledgement of its source, but shall not be modified in content and then presented as original material.

Discussion

January 2010

In January 2010 most of the eastern Caribbean was normal to moderately dry. The western portion of Trinidad, Grenada, the southern Grenadine islands and Anguilla experienced severely dry conditions. Moving southward from the northern tip of Guyana conditions experienced ranged from normal to extremely dry. To the west, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Belize were generally near normal. Haiti experienced normal to wet conditions during the month.

November 2009 to January 2010

During this three month period the southern islands of the eastern Caribbean experienced severely to extremely dry conditions. In Guyana, similar to the pattern of January, moving southward from the northern portion of the country the experience was normal to extremely dry conditions. Hispaniola, Jamaica, Cayman Islands and Belize generally experienced near normal conditions.

August 2009 to January 2010

St. Lucia to Grenada in the eastern Caribbean (including Barbados) experienced severely to extremely dry conditions during this six month period. Antigua experienced moderately dry conditions. As over the preceding two time intervals, experiences southward from the northern tip of Guyana were from near normal to extremely dry. Apart from Belize where experiences ranged from moderately dry in the western portions to extremely wet in the north, the western Caribbean was generally near normal.

February 2009 to January 2009

For the twelve month period, Grenada was extremely dry and the western portion of Trinidad moderately dry. Barbados was also moderately dry and Guyana’s experiences range from normal at the northern tip to severely dry southward. The remainder of the Caribbean was generally near normal.

The maps produced used SPI values calculated from monthly rainfall totals from land stations and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. Only land station data is used for the eastern Caribbean , described here as from Georgetown Guyana in the south to Anguilla in the north. The Greater (and Western) Antilles is less represented by land stations. However efforts are being made to include more land stations from that part of the region. Note that the severity implied by the index is relative to what is normal for that period of consideration. Normal in the drier season reflects less rainfall than in the wetter season.