SPI Monitor August 2017

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August 2017

Normal to above normal rainfall was experienced in the islands of the eastern Caribbean during August. Trinidad was predominantly normal, with northern areas being slight to moderately wet; Tobago normal to extremely wet; Grenada, St. Kitts and Anguilla slightly wet; Barbados normal in the west to very wet in the southeast; St. Vincent, St. Croix and St. Thomas moderately wet; St. Lucia normal in the north to slightly wet in the south; Martinique and Antigua normal; and Dominica normal to very wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from exceptionally dry in French Guiana to moderately wet in southern Guyana and southwest Suriname. Aruba was slightly dry while Curacao was normal. Conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from slightly dry in the west to extremely wet in the southeast. Hispaniola was predominantly normal, apart from in the extreme west of Haiti that was slightly wet and the extreme east of the Dominican Republic that was slight to moderately dry. Apart from the extreme west that was slight to moderately dry, Jamaica was also predominantly normal, and Grand Cayman was normal. Conditions in Cuba ranged from slightly dry in the northwest to moderately wet in the east. Belize was normal in the south and slightly dry in the north.

June to August 2017

 

For the three month period, normal to above normal rainfall dominated the eastern Caribbean islands. Trinidad ranged from normal to extremely wet; Tobago, Martinique, Antigua and St. Croix normal; Grenada moderately wet; Barbados slight to moderately wet; St. Vincent, Anguilla and St. Thomas slightly wet; St. Lucia normal to slightly wet; Dominica normal in the southwest to moderately wet in the northeast; and St. Kitts very wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from exceptionally dry in northern Guyana and French Guiana to exceptionally wet in east central Guyana. Aruba and Curacao were normal. Conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from extremely wet in the west to moderately wet in the east; while Hispaniola was predominantly normal apart from eastern Dominican Republic that was slight to moderately dry. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from severely dry in the west to moderately wet in central areas; while Grand Cayman was moderately dry. Cuba ranged from normal in central and eastern areas to moderately wet in the west and southeast. Conditions in Belize ranged from normal in eastern and central areas to moderately wet in the north.

March to August 2017

Rainfall in the islands of the eastern Caribbean for the six month period was normal to above normal. Trinidad was normal to moderately wet; Tobago, Barbados, St. Lucia, Martinique and Antigua normal; Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Kitts and St. Thomas moderately wet; Dominica slight to moderately wet; and St. Croix very wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from exceptionally wet in eastern Guyana and northwestern Suriname to moderately dry in northern Guyana. Aruba and Curacao were normal, while Puerto Rico was moderately wet. Apart from some southern areas, that were slightly dry, Hispaniola was predominantly normal. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from extremely wet in central areas to normal in western portions; but Grand Cayman was moderately dry. Conditions in Cuba ranged from slightly dry to extremely wet; while Belize was predominantly normal apart from the extreme north that was slightly wet.

September to August 2017

 

Apart from Trinidad that was moderately dry to slightly wet, the islands of the eastern Caribbean experienced normal to above normal totals over the twelve month period. Tobago, Grenada, Antigua and St. Kitts were normal; Barbados very wet; St. Vincent extremely to exceptionally wet; St. Lucia normal in the north to exceptionally wet in the south; Martinique, Anguilla and St. Thomas slightly wet; Dominica slight to extremely wet; and St. Croix moderately wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from exceptionally wet to moderately dry. Aruba was slightly wet and Curacao moderately wet. Conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from normal in the west to extremely wet in the east; while in Hispaniola they ranged from normal in the south to exceptionally wet in northern Dominican Republic. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from moderately wet in central areas to normal in the east and west; but Grand Cayman was exceptionally dry. Conditions in Cuba ranged from moderately dry in central areas to exceptionally wet in the east; but Belize was predominantly normal apart from the north that was slightly dry.

September 2015 to August 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.