SPI Monitor November 2017

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November 2017

The islands of the eastern Caribbean received predominantly normal to below normal rainfall. Trinidad was exceptionally dry in the west to normal in the east; Tobago; St. Vincent and Guadeloupe normal to moderately dry; Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Maarten normal; Barbados normal to slightly dry; Martinique normal to exceptionally dry; Dominica normal to severely dry; Antigua moderate to severely dry; and St. Kitts slight to moderately dry. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from exceptionally dry in western Guyana to extremely wet in northern Guyana, though Suriname and French Guiana were generally slightly dry to slightly wet. Aruba and Curacao were normal. Puerto Rico was moderate to very wet, while Hispaniola ranged from exceptionally wet to exceptionally dry. In Jamaica, conditions ranged from slightly dry to exceptionally wet; while Grand Cayman was normal. Conditions in Cuba ranged from slightly wet in the west to exceptionally wet in the east; but in Belize the range was from moderately dry to slightly wet.

September to November 2017

The majority of the islands of the eastern Caribbean received normal to above normal rainfall for the three month period. Trinidad ranged from moderately dry to moderately wet; Tobago normal to moderately wet; Grenada slight to moderately wet; Barbados moderate to very wet; St. Vincent slightly dry to moderately wet; St. Lucia and Antigua normal; Martinique moderately dry to slightly wet; Dominica moderate to very wet; Guadeloupe from slightly wet in the east to exceptionally wet in the west; and Kitts slightly wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from extremely dry in western Guyana to extremely wet in northern Suriname. Aruba and Curacao were both normal. Puerto Rico was predominantly exceptionally wet. Conditions in Hispaniola ranged from moderately dry in central Haiti to exceptionally wet in northern and eastern Dominican Republic; while Jamaica ranged from moderately dry in the west to extremely wet in north central areas. Grand Cayman was moderately wet. Cuba ranged from normal in central areas to exceptionally wet in the east, while Belize ranged from normal in central areas to extremely wet in the north.

June to November 2017

For the six month period, rainfall in the eastern Caribbean was predominantly normal to above normal. Trinidad ranged from slightly dry in the west to exceptionally wet in the east; Tobago normal to moderately wet; Grenada moderate to very wet; Barbados slightly dry to very wet; St. Vincent normal to very wet; St. Lucia normal to slightly dry; Martinique moderately dry to slightly wet; Dominica normal in the south to extremely wet in the north; Guadeloupe from normal in the east to exceptionally wet in the west; Antigua normal; and St. Kitts moderately wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from exceptionally dry in the extreme northern Guyana to exceptionally wet at the northern Guyana/Suriname border. Aruba and Curacao were both normal. Puerto Rico was very to exceptionally wet, but Hispaniola ranged from severely dry in central Haiti to the border with the Dominican Republic, to exceptionally wet in northern Dominican Republic. Conditions in Jamaica ranged from severely dry in the west to extremely wet in the north. Grand Cayman was normal. Conditions in Cuba ranged from normal in central areas to exceptionally wet in the east, while Belize ranged from moderately dry in the north to moderately wet in the south.

December 2016 to November 2017

Apart from Martinique that was moderately dry to exceptionally wet, rainfall for the twelve month period was normal to above normal in the eastern Caribbean. Trinidad ranged from moderately dry to extremely wet; Tobago and St. Vincent normal to moderately wet; Grenada and St. Kitts moderately wet; Barbados moderate to very wet; St. Lucia and Antigua normal; Martinique moderately dry to exceptionally wet; Dominica moderate to exceptionally wet; and Guadeloupe normal to exceptionally wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from moderately dry in extreme northern Guyana to exceptionally wet in northern Suriname. Aruba and Curacao were both normal. Conditions in Puerto Rico ranged from severely dry in the west to exceptionally wet in the east, while Hispaniola ranged from exceptionally dry in southern Dominican Republic to extremely wet in the northeast. Jamaica ranged from normal in the west to extremely wet in central areas, while Grand Cayman was normal. Conditions in Cuba ranged from normal in central areas to extremely wet in the east and west, but Belize was predominantly normal but ranged to moderately dry in the north.

December 2015 to November 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.