SPI Monitor January 2016

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January 2016

Normal to below normal rainfall was experienced in the eastern Caribbean and northern Guyana in January. Trinidad, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Antigua, St. Kitts, Anguilla and St. Maarten were moderately dry; Tobago and Barbados normal; Dominica extremely dry; St. Croix exceptionally dry and northern Guyana slightly dry in the north to extremely dry in the southeast. Aruba was moderately dry and Curacao extremely dry. Puerto Rico ranged from slightly wet in the west to moderately dry in the east, but apart from the extreme east and west, the Dominican Republic was normal. Jamaica was slightly dry in the south and normal in the east, while Grand Cayman was normal. Conditions in Belize ranged from extremely dry in the south to slightly dry in the north.

November 2015 to January 2016

SPI_3.jan2016Apart from St. Kitts and Grenada that were moderately wet, the eastern Caribbean and northern Guyana were normal to below normal for the three month period. Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados and St. Croix were normal; St. Vincent, St. Lucia and Anguilla slightly dry, Dominica, Antigua and St. Maarten moderately dry; and northern Guyana normal in the west to moderately dry in the east. Aruba was extremely dry, but Curacao moderately dry. Puerto Rico’s rainfall was normal, while that of the Dominican Republic ranged from moderately dry in the south and east to extremely wet in the north. Jamaica was slightly dry, but Grand Cayman moderately wet. Conditions in Belize ranged from extremely wet in the west to slightly wet in the north.

August 2015 to January 2016

SPI_6.jan2016For the six month period, the eastern Caribbean and Guyana experience normal to below normal rainfall. Trinidad, Barbados and Antigua were moderate to severely dry; Tobago, Grenada and St. Kitts normal; St. Vincent severely dry; St. Lucia and Dominica extremely dry; Anguilla slightly dry; St. Croix moderately dry; St. Maarten exceptionally dry; and northern Guyana normal to the north and west to moderately dry in the east. Aruba was exceptionally dry and Aruba severely dry. Puerto Rico was slight to moderately dry, while the Dominica Republic ranged from moderately dry in the south to normal in the north. Jamaica was slightly dry in the west and moderately dry in the east, and Grand Cayman slightly dry. Belize was normal.

February 2015 to January 2016

SPI_12.jan2016Normal to below normal conditions were experienced for the twelve month period over the islands of the eastern Caribbean. Trinidad was severe to extremely dry; Tobago normal; Barbados severely dry; St. Vincent, St. Kitts and Anguilla moderately dry; St Lucia extremely dry; Dominica, Antigua, St. Croix and St. Maarten exceptionally dry. Rainfall for northern Guyana ranged from normal to moderately wet north to south. Aruba was exceptionally dry, but Curacao severely dry. Puerto Rico was moderately dry in the west and severely dry in the east, while the Dominican Republic ranged from exceptionally dry in the south to slightly dry in the north. Jamaica was moderately dry in the extreme west and severely dry elsewhere, while Grand Cayman was slightly dry. Belize was normal in the south and slightly dry in the north.

 

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.