SPI Discussion October 2014

October 2014

There were diverse rainfall experiences during the month in the eastern Caribbean and Guyana. Trinidad, Grenada and St. Maarten were moderately wet; Tobago and Barbados abnormally dry; St. Vincent and Dominica severely dry; St. Lucia and Antigua normal; St. Kitts and Anguilla very wet; St. Croix moderately dry; and Guyana from very wet in the west to abnormally dry in the east. Puerto Rico was moderate to severely dry, while Aruba was normal. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from normal in the west to severely dry in the east, but Grand Cayman was normal. Apart from an area in the northeast of the island that was abnormally dry, Cuba was normal. Belize was moderately wet in the south and abnormally wet in the north.

August to October 2014

For the three month period, diverse rainfall conditions were experienced in the eastern Caribbean and Guyana. Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, Anguilla, St. Maarten and St. Croix were normal; Grenada moderately wet; St. Vincent and Dominica moderately dry; St. Kitts abnormally dry; and Guyana abnormally wet in the west and normal in the east. Puerto Rico was normal to abnormally wet; while Aruba was normal. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from normal in the west to extremely dry in the east, but Grand Cayman was abnormally dry. Apart from northern regions that were abnormally wet, Belize was normal.

May to October 2014

Normal to below normal conditions dominated the islands of the eastern Caribbean for the six month period. Trinidad, Grenada, Anguilla, St. Maarten and St. Croix were normal; Tobago, Barbados and St. Kitts abnormally dry; St Vincent and Dominica severely dry; and St. Lucia and Antigua moderately dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from very wet in the northwest to exceptionally dry in the east, but both Puerto Rico and Aruba were normal. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from normal in the west to extremely dry in the east, while Grand Cayman was abnormally dry. Normal to moderately dry conditions existed across Cuba. Belize was abnormally dry in the south and normal in the north.

November 2013 to October 2014

Diverse rainfall was experienced over the period across the eastern Caribbean and Guyana. Trinidad was abnormal to moderately wet; Tobago, Barbados and Antigua moderately dry; Grenada, St. Croix and St. Maarten normal; St. Vincent and St. Kitts severely dry; St. Lucia abnormally dry; Dominica exceptionally dry; and Guyana from extremely wet in the west to abnormally dry in the east. Puerto Rico was predominantly abnormally wet, but Aruba was moderately dry. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from abnormally wet in the west to severely dry in the east, but Grand Cayman was normal. Apart from the western part of the island that was abnormal to extremely wet, Cuba was dry. Rainfall in Belize ranged from moderately wet in the west to normal to the north and south.

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.