SPI Discussion November 2015

November 2015

Apart from Trinidad that was slightly dry, normal to above normal rainfall was experienced in the islands of the eastern Caribbean for November. Tobago, Barbados, St. Vincent, Dominica, Antigua, St. Kitts, Anguilla, and St Maarten were normal; Grenada moderately wet; and St. Lucia and St. Croix slightly wet. Conditions in northern Guyana ranged from exceptionally wet in the west to normal in the east. Aruba was slightly dry while Curacao rainfall was normal. Puerto Rico ranged from severely dry in the west to moderately wet in the east, but the Dominican Republic ranged from exceptionally dry in the south and east to exceptionally wet in the north. Jamaica was slightly dry in the west and moderately dry in the east, while Grand Cayman was moderately wet. Cuba experienced moderately wet conditions in central areas to normal conditions in the east and west. Conditions in Belize ranged from exceptionally wet in the south to moderately wet in the north.

September to November 2015

Apart from Grenada that was slightly wet, normal to below normal conditions were experienced for the three month period. Trinidad was exceptional to moderately dry, Tobago, Barbados and St. Croix normal; Dominica moderate to severely dry; Antigua, St. Kitts and St. Croix slightly dry. Northern Guyana ranged from moderately wet in the north to slightly dry in the east. Aruba was extremely dry and Curacao slightly dry. Puerto Rico was slight to moderately dry, while the Dominican Republic ranged from exceptionally dry in the south to normal in the north. Jamaica was normal in the west and normal to moderately dry in the east, while Grand Cayman was normal. Conditions in Cuba ranged from severely dry in the west to moderately wet in eastern areas, while for Belize they ranged from exceptionally wet in the west to normal in the north.

June to November 2015

For the six-month period, normal to below normal rainfall was experienced in the islands of the eastern Caribbean. Trinidad was extreme to severely dry; Tobago and Grenada normal; Barbados extremely dry; St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Antigua severely dry; Dominica and St. Maarten exceptionally dry; and St. Kitts, Anguilla and St. Croix moderately dry. Northern Guyana ranged from exceptionally wet in the north to slightly wet in the east. Aruba was extremely dry while Curacao was slightly dry. Puerto Rico was moderate to severely dry, while the Dominican Republic ranged from extremely dry in the south to normal in the north. Jamaica was predominantly moderately dry and Grand Cayman slightly dry. Conditions in western Cuba ranged from normal to severely dry, but normal to slightly wet in the east. Conditions in Belize ranged from moderately wet in the west to normal in the east.

December 2014 to November 2015

Normal to below normal conditions dominated the Caribbean over the twelve-month period. Trinidad was severe to extremely dry, Tobago and Grenada were normal; Barbados, St. Lucia, and Antigua extremely dry; St. Vincent and St. Kitts severely dry; Dominica and St. Maarten exceptionally dry; and St. Anguilla and St. Croix moderately dry. Northern Guyana was dominated by exceptionally wet conditions. Aruba was severely dry and Curacao moderately dry. Puerto Rico was slight to moderately dry, while conditions in the Dominican Republic ranged from exceptionally dry in the south to normal in the east. Conditions in Jamaica range from normal to moderately dry from west to east, while almost a mirror image was the experience in Cuba with these conditions from east to west. Grand Cayman was moderately dry, while Belize’s rainfall was normal.

 

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.