SPI Monitor June 2014
SPI Discussion June 2014
June 2014
Rainfall in the islands of the eastern Caribbean was normal to below normal. Trinidad, Dominica and St. Kitts were normal, Tobago and St. Croix severely dry; Grenada extremely dry; Barbados and St. Lucia abnormally dry; and St. Vincent, Antigua, Anguilla and St. Maarten moderately dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from very wet in the west to normal in the east. Aruba was abnormally dry, but Puerto Rico severely dry. Jamaica was severely dry in the south and moderately dry in the north, but Grand Cayman was normal. Conditions in Cuba were predominantly normal dry except for the western extreme that was abnormal to moderately dry. Rainfall in Belize ranged from normal in the south to exceptionally dry in the north.
April 2014 to June 2014
For the three month period, the islands of the eastern Caribbean were normal to below normal, apart from St. Croix that was abnormally wet. Trinidad was normal to abnormally dry; Tobago, St. Lucia and Dominica moderately dry; Grenada and St. Vincent extremely dry; Barbados severely dry; Antigua and Anguilla abnormally dry; and St. Kitts and St. Maarten normal. Conditions in Guyana ranged from moderately wet in the west to exceptionally dry in the east. Aruba was severely dry, but Puerto Rico was normal. Rainfall in Jamaica ranged from moderately wet in the west to moderately dry in the east. Grand Cayman was normal, while Cuba’s western areas were abnormally wet and the eastern areas abnormal to moderately wet. Conditions in Belize ranged from normal in the west to moderately dry in the east.
January 2014 to June 2014
The islands of the eastern Caribbean were normal to below normal for the six month period. Trinidad was normal to abnormally dry; Tobago, Antigua, Anguilla and St. Maarten moderately dry; Grenada and St. Croix normal; Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Kitts abnormally dry; and St. Vincent and Dominica severely dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from moderately wet in the west to moderately dry in the east. Aruba was moderately dry. Puerto Rico and Grand Cayman were normal; while Cuba had areas of abnormally wet rainfall in the east. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from moderately wet in the west to moderately dry in the east, while Belize ranged from normal in the west to moderately dry in the east.
July 2013 to June 2014
Apart from St. Croix that was abnormally wet, the islands of the eastern Caribbean were normal to below normal. Trinidad was predominantly normal; Tobago, St. Vincent, Dominica, Antigua, St. Kitts and Anguilla moderately dry; Grenada extremely dry; and Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Maarten normal. Rainfall in Guyana ranged from very wet in the west to abnormally wet in the east. Aruba was moderately dry, Puerto Rico was extremely wet in the west and very wet in the east. Jamaica and Grand Cayman were normal. Cuba was predominantly abnormally dry apart from west portions that were normal to moderately wet. Rainfall in Belize ranged from extremely wet in the west to moderately wet to the east.
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.
