SPI Monitor July 2014

/in , /by

SPI Discussion July 2014

July 2014

Below normal conditions dominated in the eastern Caribbean. Trinidad, Tobago, St. Lucia, Dominica, Anguilla and St. Maarten were moderately dry; Grenada, Barbados and St. Kitts abnormally dry; St. Vincent normal; Antigua exceptionally dry; and St. Croix extremely dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from moderately wet in the north to severely dry in the east. Aruba was normal while Puerto Rico was normal to abnormally dry. Jamaica was predominantly abnormally dry, while Grand Cayman was normal. Cuba was extremely to exceptionally dry. Conditions in Belize ranged from extremely dry in the south to abnormally dry in the north.

May 2014 to July 2014

 

SPI_3july2014For the three month period the islands of the eastern Caribbean were normal to below normal. Trinidad, Tobago, St. Kitts, Anguilla, St. Maarten and St. Croix were normal; Grenada, St. Lucia and Dominica severely dry; and Barbados, St. Vincent and Antigua moderately dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from moderately wet in the northwest to exceptionally dry in the east. Aruba was moderately dry while Puerto Rico was normal. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from normal in the west to moderately dry in the east, but Grand Cayman was abnormally dry. Conditions in Cuba ranged from severely dry in the west to normal in the east. Belize was abnormally dry in the west and moderately dry in the east.

 February 2014 to July 2014

 

SPI_6july2014Normal to below normal conditions were experienced during the six month period in the eastern Caribbean. Trinidad, Tobago, Anguilla, St. Maarten and St. Croix were normal; Grenada and St. Kitts moderately dry; and Barbados, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica and Antigua severely dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from moderately wet in the northwest to exceptionally dry in the east. Aruba was extremely dry, but Puerto Rico normal. Jamaica ranged from normal in the west to moderately dry in the east. Rainfall in Cuba ranged from moderately dry in the west to moderately wet in the east. Grand Cayman was abnormally dry. Belize was severely dry in the south and moderately dry in the north.

August 2013 to July 2014

 

SPI_12july2014Normal to below normal conditions dominated the eastern Caribbean during the twelve month period. Trinidad, Barbados, Anguilla and St. Croix were normal; Tobago and St. Lucia abnormally dry; Grenada and Antigua severely dry; St. Vincent, Dominica, and St. Kitts moderately dry. Rainfall in Guyana ranged from extremely wet in the west to normal in the east. Aruba was moderately dry but Puerto Rico moderately wet. Jamaica was normal in the west and abnormally dry in the east, while Grand Cayman was normal. While central Cuba was normal, the west was exceptional to abnormally wet, and the east abnormal to moderately dry. Belize ranged from normal in the south to moderately wet 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.