SPI Discussion June 2014

June 2014

Rainfall in the islands of the eastern Caribbean was normal to below normal. Trinidad, Dominica and St. Kitts were normal, Tobago and St. Croix severely dry; Grenada extremely dry; Barbados and St. Lucia abnormally dry; and St. Vincent, Antigua, Anguilla and St. Maarten moderately dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from very wet in the west to normal in the east. Aruba was abnormally dry, but Puerto Rico severely dry. Jamaica was severely dry in the south and moderately dry in the north, but Grand Cayman was normal. Conditions in Cuba were predominantly normal dry except for the western extreme that was abnormal to moderately dry. Rainfall in Belize ranged from normal in the south to exceptionally dry in the north.

April 2014 to June 2014

For the three month period, the islands of the eastern Caribbean were normal to below normal, apart from St. Croix that was abnormally wet. Trinidad was normal to abnormally dry; Tobago, St. Lucia and Dominica moderately dry; Grenada and St. Vincent extremely dry; Barbados severely dry; Antigua and Anguilla abnormally dry; and St. Kitts and St. Maarten normal. Conditions in Guyana ranged from moderately wet in the west to exceptionally dry in the east. Aruba was severely dry, but Puerto Rico was normal. Rainfall in Jamaica ranged from moderately wet in the west to moderately dry in the east. Grand Cayman was normal, while Cuba’s western areas were abnormally wet and the eastern areas abnormal to moderately wet. Conditions in Belize ranged from normal in the west to moderately dry in the east.

January 2014 to June 2014

The islands of the eastern Caribbean were normal to below normal for the six month period. Trinidad was normal to abnormally dry; Tobago, Antigua, Anguilla and St. Maarten moderately dry; Grenada and St. Croix normal; Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Kitts abnormally dry; and St. Vincent and Dominica severely dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from moderately wet in the west to moderately dry in the east. Aruba was moderately dry. Puerto Rico and Grand Cayman were normal; while Cuba had areas of abnormally wet rainfall in the east. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from moderately wet in the west to moderately dry in the east, while Belize ranged from normal in the west to moderately dry in the east.

July 2013 to June 2014

Apart from St. Croix that was abnormally wet, the islands of the eastern Caribbean were normal to below normal. Trinidad was predominantly normal; Tobago, St. Vincent, Dominica, Antigua, St. Kitts and Anguilla moderately dry; Grenada extremely dry; and Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Maarten normal. Rainfall in Guyana ranged from very wet in the west to abnormally wet in the east. Aruba was moderately dry, Puerto Rico was extremely wet in the west and very wet in the east. Jamaica and Grand Cayman were normal. Cuba was predominantly abnormally dry apart from west portions that were normal to moderately wet. Rainfall in Belize ranged from extremely wet in the west to moderately wet to the east.

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.

 

 

 

 

Discussion

April 2014

Apart from St. Croix that was moderately wet, the islands of the eastern Caribbean were normal to below normal for April 2014. Trinidad, Grenada, St. Lucia, Dominica, Antigua, St. Kitts and St. Maarten were normal; Barbados and St. Vincent moderately dry; and Anguilla abnormally dry. Rainfall in Guyana ranged from very wet in the west to normal in the east. Puerto Rico was normal and Jamaica predominantly so apart from the extreme west that was abnormally wet. In Cuba the west was normal to moderately dry, the east normal to moderately wet, while central areas were normal. Grand Cayman was moderately wet while Belize was dry except for the extreme north that was abnormally dry.

February 2014 to April 2014

For the three month period, apart from Grenada and St. Croix that were abnormally wet, the islands of the Caribbean were normal to below normal. Trinidad, St. Vincent, Dominica, and St. Kitts were abnormally dry; Tobago, Barbados, St. Vincent and St. Lucia normal; Anguilla and St. Maarten moderately dry. Guyana was abnormally wet in the west and normal in the east. Puerto Rico, Jamaica and Grand Cayman were normal; while Cuba was normal in the west and abnormal to moderately wet in the east. Conditions in Belize ranged from extremely dry in the west to severely wet in the south and abnormally wet in the north.

November 2013 to April 2014

Mixed conditions were experienced for the six month period in the eastern Caribbean islands. Trinidad and Grenada were abnormal to moderately wet; Tobago, Barbados, St. Vincent Antigua, St. Kitts and St. Maarten normal; St. Lucia, Anguilla and St. Croix abnormally wet; Dominica moderately dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from moderately wet in the west to abnormally wet in the east. Puerto Rico was abnormally wet in the west and abnormally wet in the east; but Cuba ranged from exceptionally wet in the west to normal in the east. Jamaica was normal but Grand Cayman moderately wet. Rainfall ranged from extremely wet in the west to moderately wet outward.

May 2013 to April 2014

Though conditions were mixed, the majority of the eastern Caribbean islands were normal. Trinidad was largely abnormal to moderately wet; Tobago, Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, Antigua, Anguilla and St. Maarten were normal; Grenada and St. Kitts abnormally dry; St. Croix moderately wet. Guyana was very wet in the west and moderately wet in the east, but Puerto Rico was exceptionally wet. Jamaica was abnormally dry in the west and normal in the east, while Grand Cayman was abnormally wet. Conditions in the western areas of Cuba ranged from exceptionally wet to normal, while the east was from normal to extremely dry, and central areas normal to abnormally wet. Rainfall in Belize ranged from exceptionally wet in the west to moderately wet in the south and to extremely wet in the north.

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.

 

Discussion

February 2014

Mixed conditions were experienced in the Eastern Caribbean and Guyana for the month. Trinidad, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, St. Kitts and Anguilla were normal; Tobago moderately wet; Grenada very wet; Barbados and St. Maarten abnormally wet; Antigua and St. Croix abnormally dry; and Guyana normal in the west and abnormally wet in the east. Puerto Rico was extreme to abnormally wet from west to east. Jamaica was normal, while Grand Cayman was abnormally dry. Conditions in Cuba ranged from normal in the west to very wet in east central areas, with the eastern half being predominantly moderately wet. Belize however, was abnormally dry in the south and normal in the north.

December 2013 to February 2014

Normal to above normal rainfall totals amounts were experienced in the eastern Caribbean and Guyana. Trinidad, Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Kitts and St. Croix were abnormally wet; Tobago, Dominica, Antigua normal; Grenada exceptionally wet; St. Lucia and Anguilla extremely wet; St. Maarten moderately wet; and Guyana moderately wet in the south west to normal in the east. Puerto Rico was very wet in the west and moderately wet in the east. Jamaica was normal, but Grand Cayman was abnormally wet. Rainfall totals in Cuba and Belize ranged from abnormal to very wet.

September 2013 to February 2014

For the six month period, normal to below normal conditions were experienced in the northern islands, while normal to above normal were experienced in the southern islands and Guyana. Trinidad was very wet; Tobago, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, Anguilla and St. Croix normal; Grenada and St. Vincent abnormally wet; Dominica, Antigua and St. Kitts abnormally dry; and Guyana predominantly abnormally wet apart from the northeast extreme. Puerto Rico ranged from extreme to abnormally wet. Jamaica was abnormally dry, but Grand Cayman normal. The western half of Cuba was normal to exceptionally wet, while the eastern half was normal to moderately dry. Conditions in Belize ranged from exceptionally wet in the west to moderately wet in the north and south.

March 2013 to February 2014

Normal to above normal rainfall dominated the eastern Caribbean and Guyana for the twelve month period. Trinidad was very to extremely wet; Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent, Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Anguilla and St. Croix normal; Barbados and Dominica moderately wet; and Guyana predominantly abnormally wet. Puerto Rico was exceptionally wet. Jamaica was abnormally dry in the west and normal in the east, while Grand Cayman was normal. Rainfall in western Cuba ranged from normal to exceptionally wet, while in eastern Cuba the range was normal to exceptionally dry.