SPI Monitor February 2017

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February 2017

Apart from portions of Barbados and Dominica that were slightly wet, the islands of the eastern Caribbean were normal to below normal regarding rainfall for the month. Trinidad and Tobago were normal to slightly dry; Grenada, Guadeloupe, Anguilla, St. Maarten, St. Thomas normal; Barbados normal to slightly wet; St. Vincent extremely dry; St. Lucia moderate to extremely dry; Martinique moderate to severely dry; Dominica from slightly wet in the southwest to severely dry in the northeast; Antigua exceptionally dry; St. Kitts moderately dry; St. Croix slightly dry. The Guianas ranged from normal to very wet, with greatest relative wetness in interior areas. Aruba was slightly wet, while Curacao was slightly dry. Puerto Rico was predominantly normal apart from in northwest that was slightly wet and in the south that was slight to moderately dry. Both the Dominican Republic and Jamaica were predominantly normal, but with parts that were slightly wet. Grand Cayman was normal, but conditions in Belize ranged from normal in central areas to slightly wet in south to severely dry in the north.

December 2016 to February 2017

Mixed conditions were experienced over the three month period in the islands of the eastern Caribbean. Trinidad, Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Martinique, Antigua, St. Maarten, St. Croix, and St. Thomas were normal; Tobago slightly wet; Grenada moderately wet; Dominica exceptionally wet in the southwest and moderately dry in the northeast; and St. Kitts slightly dry. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from normal in northern Guyana to very wet in the interior of Guyana and Suriname. Aruba was moderately wet and Curacao slightly wet. Conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from severely dry in the southwest to normal in more central areas; while in the Dominican Republic they ranged from slightly wet in the northwest to slightly dry in the southeast. Jamaica was predominantly normal apart from the extreme northwest and southeast that were slightly dry. Grand Cayman was severely dry, while Belize ranged from extremely wet in the south to moderately dry in the north.

September 2016 to February 2017

For the six month period, conditions in the islands of the eastern Caribbean were mixed. Trinidad ranged from severely dry in the west to moderately wet in the east; Tobago predominantly normal apart from the northeast that was slightly dry; Grenada, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Antigua, Anguilla, St. Thomas, St. Croix normal; St. Kitts slightly dry; and St. Maarten moderately dry. The Guianas ranged from normal to exceptionally wet in interior areas. Aruba and Curacao were slightly wet, while Puerto Rico was predominantly normal apart from the northeast that was slight to moderately wet and the southeast that was slightly dry. Conditions in the Dominican Republic ranged from exceptionally wet to slightly wet in the southwest and southeast. Conditions were mixed in Jamaica, being normal in central areas, slight to moderately dry in the west and southeast, and slight to extremely wet in the north. Grand Cayman was exceptionally dry, but conditions in Belize ranged from moderately wet in the south to extremely dry in the north.

March 2016 to February 2017

Mixed conditions were experienced in the islands of the eastern Caribbean for the twelve month period. Trinidad was predominantly normal apart from the west that was slight to moderately dry; Tobago slight to moderately dry; Grenada, Guadeloupe, Antigua, and St. Croix normal; Barbados and St. Thomas slightly wet; St. Vincent slight to moderately wet; St. Lucia ranged from normal in the north to exceptionally wet in the south; Martinique from slightly dry to moderately wet; Dominica moderately wet in the southwest to normal in the northeast; and St. Maarten moderately dry. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from normal to exceptionally wet in the interior. Aruba was slightly wet and Curacao was normal. Western Puerto Rico was normal while the east was normal to moderately wet. Conditions in the Dominican Republic ranged from normal in the west to extremely wet in east central areas. Conditions were mixed in Jamaica, being normal in central areas, slight to moderately dry in the west and southeast, and slight to extremely wet in the north. Grand Cayman was exceptionally dry, while conditions in Belize ranged from normal in the west to extremely dry in the north and south.

March 2015 to February 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.