July 2017

Conditions were predominantly normal to below in the islands of the eastern Caribbean. Conditions in Trinidad ranged from slightly wet in the north to extremely dry in the south; Tobago from severely dry in the west to normal in the east; Grenada, St. Kitts and St. Maarten normal; Barbados slight to moderately dry; St Vincent, Martinique and Antigua moderately dry; St. Lucia from normal in the north to moderately dry in the south; Dominica normal to severely dry; Anguilla slightly wet; St Croix extremely dry; and St. Thomas moderately wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from exceptionally dry to exceptionally wet. Aruba was slightly wet while Curacao was normal. Conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from normal in the south to moderately wet in the north. Conditions in Hispaniola ranged from moderately wet in the regions around the Haiti-Dominican Republic border, to extremely dry in the east and normal to slightly dry in the west. In Jamaica conditions ranged from normal in the west to severely dry in the east, while Cuba was predominantly normal. Conditions in Belize ranged from slightly dry to slightly wet.

May to July 2017

For the three month period, normal to above normal rainfall predominated the eastern Caribbean islands. Trinidad was normal in the south to moderately dry in the north; Tobago slight to moderately dry; Grenada, St. Kitts and Anguilla moderately wet; Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Martinique, Antigua, St. Thomas normal;   St. Maarten slightly wet; and St. Croix slightly dry. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from exceptionally dry to exceptionally wet. Aruba was slightly wet, but Curacao normal. Conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from moderately wet in the west to normal in the east; while Hispaniola ranged from normal in the south west to extremely dry in the south east. In Jamaica, conditions ranged from extremely wet in central areas to normal to the east and west. Cuba was predominantly normal but slight to moderately wet conditions were experienced in parts of the west and southeast. Central Belize was normal but conditions ranged to moderately wet to the north and south.

February to July 2017

Apart from Tobago that was normal to moderately dry, normal to above normal rainfall predominated the islands of the eastern Caribbean over the six month period. Trinidad was normal in the south and slightly wet in the north; Grenada, Dominica, Anguilla, St. Maarten and St. Thomas slightly wet; Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Antigua; and St. Croix very wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from moderate to exceptionally wet. Aruba and Curacao were normal; while conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from extremely wet in the northwest to normal in the east. Hispaniola was predominantly normal apart from portions of the southeast that were slightly dry. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from extremely wet in central areas to slightly wet to the east and west. Most of Cuba was normal apart from portions of the west and southeast where rainfall totals were above normal and in north central areas that were slightly dry. Conditions in Belize ranged from slightly dry in the west to slightly wet in the north.

August 2016 to July 2017

Mixed conditions were experienced in the islands of the eastern Caribbean for the twelve month period. Trinidad ranged from normal to moderately dry; Tobago slight to moderately dry; Barbados moderately wet; St. Vincent exceptionally wet; Grenada, St. Kitts, Anguilla and St. Maarten normal; St. Lucia from normal in the north to exceptionally wet in the south; Dominica normal to slightly wet; Antigua, and St. Croix and St. Thomas slightly wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from moderately dry to exceptionally wet. Aruba and Curacao were slightly wet; but conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from normal in the south to very wet in the north. Conditions in Hispaniola ranged from moderately dry in the south to exceptionally wet in the north, while in Jamaica they ranged from very wet in central areas to normal in the east and west. Central Cuba ranged from normal to moderately dry, while to the east and west rainfall totals were above normal.

August 2015 to July 2017

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.

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.