SPI Monitor December 2017

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December 2017

Mixed rainfall conditions were experienced in the islands of the eastern Caribbean for December. Trinidad was very to exceptionally wet; Tobago slight to very wet; Grenada normal; Barbados normal to slightly wet; St. Vincent normal; St. Lucia moderate to very wet; Martinique normal to exceptionally wet; Dominica moderate to exceptionally wet; Guadeloupe normal to extremely dry; Antigua slightly wet; St. Kitts slight to moderately wet; St. Maarten moderately dry; and St. Croix moderately wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from severely dry in western Guyana to exceptionally wet in parts of French Guiana, but with most of the region normal to slightly dry. Aruba was moderately dry, but Curacao normal. Puerto Rico was predominantly slightly dry. Most of Hispaniola was normal except eastern Dominican Republic that was slight to moderately dry and the southwestern tip of Haiti that was slightly dry. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from normal in the east and west to exceptionally wet in the south; while Grand Cayman was normal. Conditions in Cuba ranged from severely dry in the west to slightly wet in east central areas, while for Belize they were predominantly normal apart from parts of the extreme west that were slightly dry and in the extreme southeast that were slight to moderately wet.

October to December 2017

For the three month period, mixed rainfall conditions were experienced in the islands of the eastern Caribbean. Trinidad ranged from normal to exceptionally wet; Tobago moderate to very wet; Grenada, St. Kitts normal and St. Maarten; Barbados slightly wet; St. Vincent normal to slightly dry; St. Lucia normal to slightly wet; Martinique normal to severely dry; Dominica normal to moderately wet; Guadeloupe slightly wet to exceptionally dry; Antigua moderately dry. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from exceptionally dry in western Guyana to exceptionally wet in northern French Guiana, with most of Suriname being normal. Aruba was slightly dry, but Curacao normal. Puerto Rico was normal to moderately wet from west to east. Hispaniola was mostly normal but slightly wet in western Haiti and parts of eastern Dominican Republic; while Jamaica ranged from normal in the west to extremely wet in central areas. Grand Cayman was normal. Conditions in Cuba ranged from normal to moderately wet, while in Belize they ranged from normal in the west to exceptionally wet in the south and to very wet in the north.

July to December 2017

Predominantly normal to above normal rainfall was experienced in the islands of the eastern Caribbean over the six month period. This is except for Trinidad that was ranged from slightly dry in the extreme southwest to exceptionally wet in the east, and Martinique that was normal to moderately dry. Tobago was normal to moderately wet; Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Antigua normal; Barbados moderate to very wet; Dominica moderate to very wet; Guadeloupe normal to extremely wet; and St. Kitts slight to moderately wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from exceptionally dry in northern Guyana to exceptionally wet in northern French Guiana, with most of the area being normal to moderately wet. Aruba was slightly dry and Curacao normal. Puerto Rico was extreme to exceptionally wet. Hispaniola ranged from normal over southwest Haiti to extremely wet northeast Dominican Republic. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from moderately dry in the west to extremely wet in north central areas; but Grand Cayman was normal. Cuba ranged from slightly dry in west-central areas to exceptionally wet in the east, while Belize ranged from extremely dry in the extreme west to moderately wet in the extreme north.

January to December 2017

Apart from St. Lucia that was slightly dry to slightly wet and Martinique that was normal to moderately dry, rainfall over the islands of the eastern Caribbean was normal to above normal for the twelve month period. Trinidad was normal to extremely wet; Tobago normal to slightly wet; Grenada, Barbados and St. Kitts moderately wet; St. Vincent and Antigua normal; Dominica very to exceptionally wet; and Guadeloupe slight to exceptionally wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from extremely dry in northern Guyana to exceptionally wet in northern Suriname. Both Aruba and Curacao were normal. Puerto Rico ranged from moderately dry in the west to exceptionally wet in the east. Hispaniola ranged from slightly dry in southern regions to very wet in northeast Dominican Republic. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from normal in the extreme west to exceptionally wet in the north, while Grand Cayman was normal. Normal to slightly dry conditions predominated central Cuba, with up to exceptionally wet areas in the west and extremely wet in the southeast. Belize was normal.

January 2016 to December 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.