SPI Monitor May 2015

SPI Discussion May 2015

May 2015

Normal to below normal conditions persisted in the islands of the eastern Caribbean. Trinidad was normal to slightly dry; Tobago, Barbados, St. Vincent severely dry; St. Lucia, Dominica and St. Kitts extremely dry; Antigua and St. Maarten moderately dry; Anguilla normal and St. Croix slightly dry. Guyana was exceptionally wet in the west and extremely wet in the east. Aruba was severely dry, while Puerto Rico was predominantly moderately dry. Conditions in the Dominican Republic ranged from extremely dry in the west to normal in the east. Central portions of Jamaica were normal while the extreme west and east were slightly to severely dry. Grand Cayman was slightly dry. Though rainfall in Cuba was predominantly normal, western and southern areas were below normal. Conditions in Belize ranged from exceptionally dry in the south to normal in the north.

March to May 2015

For the three month period, normal to below normal rainfall was experienced in the eastern Caribbean islands. Trinidad was slightly dry; Tobago, St. Kitts and Anguilla moderately dry; Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent and St. Lucia normal; Dominica exceptionally dry; Antigua severely; St. Maarten extremely dry; and St. Croix severely dry. Guyana ranged from extremely wet in the west to slightly wet in the east. Aruba was normal, but Puerto Rico was moderately dry. The western half of the Dominican Republic were exceptionally dry to normal, while the eastern half was normal to severely dry. Apart from western and eastern extremes that were slight dry, Jamaica was normal, but Grand Cayman slightly dry. Western Cuba was slightly to severely dry, while the east was normal.

December 2014 to May 2015

The islands of the eastern Caribbean experienced normal to below normal rainfall for the six month period. Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent and St. Kitts were normal; Barbados, St. Lucia and Anguilla moderately dry; Dominica and St. Maarten exceptionally dry; Antigua severely dry; and St. Croix slightly dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from very wet in the northwest normal in the east. Aruba and Puerto Rico were both normal. Conditions in the Dominica Republic ranged from exceptionally dry in the west to moderately wet in the east. Cuba was slightly dry in the west and normal in the east, while Grand Cayman was slightly dry. Belize ranged from exceptionally dry in the south to slightly wet in the north.

June 2014 to May 2015

Rainfall was normal to below normal in the islands of the eastern Caribbean for the twelve month period. Trinidad was moderate to severely dry; Tobago, Grenada, Barbados and Anguilla normal; St. Vincent, St. Croix and St Maarten slightly dry; St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Kitts moderate dry. Conditions in Guyana ranged from extremely wet in the north to normal in the east. Aruba was slightly dry but Puerto Rico was normal. Normal to moderately dry conditions were experienced in the Dominica Republic, but the western half of Jamaica was normal, while the eastern half was normal to severely dry. Grand Cayman was moderately dry, but Cuba was slightly to severely dry. Conditions in Belize ranged from extremely dry in the south to normal 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.