SPI Monitor June 2017

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June 2017

Rainfall in the islands of the eastern Caribbean was normal to above normal. Trinidad was predominantly extremely wet; Tobago, Martinique and St. Thomas normal; Grenada extreme to exceptionally wet; Barbados moderate to very wet; St. Vincent slight to moderately wet; St. Lucia from normal in the north to moderately wet in the south; Dominica from normal in the south to very wet in the north; Guadeloupe moderate to extremely wet; Antigua, Anguilla moderately wet; St. Kitts exceptionally wet; St. Maarten and St. Croix slightly wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from moderately dry in northern Guyana to exceptionally wet in northwestern Suriname. Aruba and Curacao were normal and moderately wet respectively. Conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from exceptionally wet in the west to normal in the east, while in Hispaniola was predominantly normal apart from a slight to moderately dry western and slightly dry eastern portions. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from moderately dry in the west to extremely wet in the south, but Grand Cayman was normal. In Cuba, western areas were slight to very wet, eastern normal to moderately dry and central areas normal to slightly wet. In Belize, conditions ranged from slightly dry to moderately wet.

April to June 2017

Apart from Tobago that was normal to moderately dry and St. Thomas that was moderately dry, conditions in the islands of the eastern Caribbean were normal to above normal for the three month period. Trinidad and Barbados were normal to moderately wet; Grenada, Antigua, St. Kitts, Anguilla, St. Maarten and St. Croix moderately wet; St. Vincent slightly wet; St. Lucia and Martinique normal to slightly wet; Dominica slight to moderately wet; and Guadeloupe moderate to extremely wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from moderately dry in the north of Guyana to exceptionally wet in northwest Suriname. Aruba was normal but Curacao slightly wet. Conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from moderately wet in the west to normal in the east; but Hispaniola was moderately dry in most of Haiti and western Dominican Republic to normal in the east. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from exceptionally wet in central regions to moderately wet to the east and west; but Grand Cayman was normal. Both Cuba and Belize were predominantly normal apart from some areas in the west and south that had above normal rainfall in the case of Cuba, and in the east in the case of Belize.

January to June 2017

For the six month period, normal to above normal rainfall was experienced in the islands of the eastern Caribbean. Trinidad and Barbados were normal to slightly wet; Tobago, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Martinique, Antigua, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas normal; Grenada, Dominica and St. Kitts moderately wet; and St. Croix very wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from moderately dry in the north of Guyana to exceptionally wet in north-central Suriname. Aruba was moderately wet and Curacao slightly wet. Conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from very wet in the north west to normal in the east, while Hispaniola was predominantly normal apart from the south and southwest that was slight to moderately dry. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from slight to exceptionally wet, but Grand Cayman was normal. Cuba ranged from exceptionally wet in the west to moderately dry in the north, while Belize ranged from normal to slightly dry.

July 2016 to June 2017

Mixed conditions were experienced over the eastern Caribbean islands for the twelve month period. Trinidad ranged from moderately dry to normal; Tobago and Guadeloupe slight to moderately dry; Grenada, St. Kitts, Anguilla and St. Maarten normal; Barbados moderate to very wet; St. Vincent moderate to extremely wet; St. Lucia from slightly dry in the north to exceptionally wet in the south; Martinique slightly dry to moderately wet; Dominica and St. Croix normal to moderately wet; and Antigua and St. Thomas slightly wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from moderately dry in the north to exceptionally wet in central areas. Aruba and Curacao were both slightly wet. Conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from normal in the west to very wet in the northeast; but in Hispaniola ranged from moderately dry in the south to exceptionally wet in the north. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from very wet in central areas to normal to the east and west; but for Cuba central areas were normal to severely dry and western and eastern areas ranged to exceptionally wet. Belize ranged from extremely dry in the south to normal in central areas and varying to severely dry in the north.

July 2015 to June 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.