SPI Monitor December 2016

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December 2016

Mixed conditions were experienced in the islands of the eastern Caribbean during December 2016. Trinidad was normal to slightly wet; Tobago slight to moderately wet; Grenada moderate to very wet; Barbados, St. Vincent and Antigua slightly wet; St. Lucia and St. Maarten moderately wet; Dominica from slightly dry in the north to exceptionally wet in the south; St. Kitts moderately dry. Conditions in Guyana range from normal to extremely wet. Both Aruba and Curacao had normal rainfall, but the Dominican Republic ranged from normal in the south to moderately wet in the north. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from slightly wet in the south to moderately dry in the east and west; but Grand Cayman was extremely dry. Cuba was predominantly normal to below normal, but conditions in Belize ranged from normal in the northwest to exceptionally wet in the southeast.

October to December 2016

For the three month period, mixed conditions were experienced in the eastern Caribbean islands. Conditions in Trinidad ranged from moderately dry in the southwest to moderately wet in the northeast; Tobago, Grenada, Antigua and St. Maarten normal; Barbados very wet; St. Vincent extreme to exceptionally wet; St. Lucia slight to exceptionally wet; Dominica from normal to very wet; St. Kitts moderately dry; and Anguilla slightly wet. Rainfall in Guyana ranged from normal in the north to exceptionally wet in the south. Aruba was normal, but Curacao slightly wet. Conditions in the Dominican Republic ranged from very to exceptionally wet. Jamaica was predominantly normal except for the extreme south that was slight to moderately wet, and the extreme west that was slight to moderately dry. Grand Cayman was extremely dry. Cuba was predominantly normal to below normal, but conditions in Belize ranged from moderately wet in the south to moderately dry in the north.

July to December 2016

Mixed conditions were experienced in the islands in the eastern Caribbean for the six month period. Trinidad was normal in the east, but normal to extremely wet in the west; Tobago slight to moderately dry; Grenada, St. Kitts and Anguilla normal; Barbados very wet; St. Vincent extreme to exceptionally wet; St. Lucia from normal in the north to exceptionally wet in the south; Dominica from slightly wet in the southwest to slightly dry in the northeast; Antigua slightly wet; and St. Maarten slightly dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from normal in the north to exceptionally wet in the south. Aruba and Curacao were normal, but the Dominican Republic normal to exceptionally wet. Jamaica was normal apart from the extreme west that was slight to moderately dry and the east that was slightly dry. Rainfall in both Cuba and Belize were predominantly normal to below normal.

January 2016 to December 2016

Mixed conditions were experienced in the islands of the eastern Caribbean for the twelve month period. Trinidad was predominantly normal but was slight to moderately dry in the west; Tobago moderate to extremely dry; Grenada, Antigua and Anguilla normal; Barbados slight to moderately wet; St. Vincent slight to moderately wet; St. Lucia normal to exceptionally wet; Dominica normal to moderately wet; St. Kitts moderately dry; and St. Maarten very dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from normal to extremely wet. Aruba and Curacao were normal, but the Dominica Republic ranged from normal to extremely wet. Jamaica was normal, but with slight to moderately dry conditions in both the western and eastern extremities. Grand Cayman was exceptionally dry. In general, eastern Cuba was normal, central areas normal to below normal, and western areas normal to above normal. Conditions in Belize ranged from normal in central areas to exceptional dry to the north and south.

January 2015 to December 2016

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.