SPI Discussion July 2015 2015

July 2015

Normal to below normal rainfall was experienced for the month in the islands of the eastern Caribbean. Trinidad, Grenada, St. Vincent and St. Lucia were normal; Tobago, Barbados and Anguilla severely dry; Dominica, Antigua, St. Maarten and St. Croix exceptionally dry; and St. Kitts moderately dry. Guyana was exceptionally wet. Aruba was normal, but conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from moderate to exceptionally dry. Conditions in the Dominican Republic ranged from normal in the north to exceptionally dry in the south and east, while those in Jamaica ranged from slightly wet in north-central areas to slightly dry to the east and moderately dry to the west. Grand Cayman was extremely dry. Central Cuba was moderately dry, and varying to normal to the east and west, apart from east central areas that were severely dry. In Belize conditions ranged from slightly dry in the south to exceptionally dry to the north.

May to July 2015

For the three month period, the islands of the eastern Caribbean experienced normal to below normal rainfall. Trinidad was normal to slightly dry; Tobago, St. Vincent and Anguilla moderately dry; Barbados, Dominica, Antigua, St. Maarten and St. Croix exceptionally dry; and St. Kitts severely dry. Guyana was exceptionally wet. Aruba was slightly dry, but Puerto Rico severe to extremely dry. Conditions in the Dominican Republic ranged from normal in the north to exceptionally dry in the south, while in Jamaica, central areas were normal varying to extremely dry to the east and west. Grand Cayman was normal. Rainfall in most of Cuba was normal to slightly dry, apart from the extreme south that was moderately dry. Belize was normal in the south and slightly dry in the north.

February to July 2015

Normal to below normal conditions were experienced over the six month period in the islands of the eastern Caribbean. Trinidad and Grenada were slight to moderately dry; Tobago, St. Lucia and Barbados moderately dry; St. Vincent normal; Dominica, Antigua, St. Maarten and St. Croix exceptionally dry; and St. Kitts and Anguilla extremely dry. Guyana was exceptionally wet in the west and extremely wet in the east. Aruba was slightly dry, but Puerto Rico ranged from moderately dry in the west to extremely dry in the east. Conditions in the Dominican Republic ranged from exceptionally dry in the southwest to normal in the east, but Jamaica was normal in central areas becoming moderately dry in the east and west. Grand Cayman was slightly dry, while Cuba was predominantly normal to slightly dry apart from the extreme south that was moderately dry. Conditions in Belize ranged from normal in the south to moderately dry in the north.

August 2014 to July 2015

Normal to below normal rainfall was experienced over the twelve month period. Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada and Anguilla were normal; Barbados normal to slightly dry; St. Vincent and St. Croix slightly dry; St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Kitts and St. Maarten moderately dry; and Dominica exceptionally dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from extremely wet in the west to slightly wet in the east. Aruba was slightly dry, but Puerto Rico conditions ranged from severely dry to normal. The Dominican Republic ranged from extremely dry in the south to normal in the north, while the western half of Jamaica was normal, the eastern half ranged from normal to extremely dry. Grand Cayman was moderately dry. Cuba experienced normal to moderately dry conditions, Belize was predominantly normal with slightly wet conditions in the northeast and slightly dry in the west.

 

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.