SPI Monitor January 2011

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.

Discussion

January 2011

There is a marked difference between the Leeward Islands and the Greater Antilles, and the remainder of the eastern Caribbean. The remainder of the eastern Caribbean showed no signs of below normal rainfall. Trinidad and Tobago was extremely to exceptionally wet. Grenada, Barbados and Dominica were very wet, whilst St. Lucia was moderately wet and St. Vincent abnormally wet. In the Leewards, St. Kitts was normal, whilst Antigua was severely dry and Anguilla exceptionally dry. Guyana was normal. Conditions in the Dominican Republic ranged from normal in the west to severely dry in the east. Jamaica was moderately dry in the west and abnormally dry in the east, whilst the Cayman Islands was extremely dry. Conditions in Belize ranged from normal in the south to extremely dry in the northeast.

November 2010 to January 2011

For the three month period, the eastern Caribbean south of Dominica showed no signs of dryness. Trinidad was extremely wet and Tobago moderately wet. St. Lucia and St. Vincent were very wet, whilst Barbados was abnormally wet and Grenada normal. Dominica and Anguilla were abnormally dry, and St. Kitts and Antigua were moderately dry. Guyana was normal. Conditions in the Dominican Republic ranged from normal in the west to severely dry in the east, whilst in Jamaica the range was from moderately dry in the west to abnormally wet in the east. The Cayman Islands was extremely wet. Conditions in Belize were abnormally to moderately dry.

August 2010 to January 2011

Apart from Dominica that was abnormally dry, the eastern Caribbean was generally normal to above normal. Barbados, St. Vincent and St. Lucia were exceptionally wet, whilst Grenada was very wet. Tobago, St. Kitts and Antigua were moderately wet and Anguilla abnormally wet. Trinidad was very to extremely wet. Guyana was abnormally to moderately wet, and the Dominican Republic normal to abnormally dry. Jamaica was severely wet and the Cayman Islands normal. Conditions in Belize generally ranged from normal to moderately dry.

February 2010 to January 2011

There were no dry areas in the Caribbean for the 12 month period. Tobago, St. Vincent and St. Kitts were exceptionally wet. Barbados and St. Lucia were extremely wet, whilst Grenada, Dominica and Antigua were moderately wet. Anguilla, Guyana and the Dominican Republic were abnormally wet. Jamaica was very wet and the Cayman Islands normal. Belize was predominantly normal to abnormally wet.