SPI Monitor October 2017

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October 2017

For October, there was mixed rainfall in the islands of the eastern Caribbean. Rainfall totals for Trinidad ranged from normal in the west to exceptionally wet in the east. Tobago was slightly wet in the west to exceptionally wet in the east; Grenada moderately wet; Barbados moderate to extremely wet; St. Vincent normal to slightly wet; St. Lucia, Dominica and St. Kitts normal; Martinique normal to slightly dry; Guadeloupe normal in the west to moderately dry in the east; and Antigua slight to moderately dry. Apart from southwestern and northern extremes of Guyana, the Guianas generally experienced normal to moderately wet conditions. Aruba was slightly dry while Curacao was normal. Puerto Rico ranged from normal in the north to extremely wet in the south east. Conditions in Hispaniola ranged from normal in the southwest to moderately dry in the north and east. Jamaica ranged from normal in the west to moderately wet in the east, while Grand Cayman was moderately wet. Conditions in Cuba ranged from moderately dry to moderately wet, but northern Bahamas was normal to moderately wet. Belize ranged from slightly dry in western areas to exceptionally wet to the north and south.

August to October 2017

For the three month period, rainfall was normal to above normal in the eastern Caribbean. Trinidad was normal to exceptionally wet; Tobago moderately wet; Tobago, Grenada and St. Vincent moderately wet; St. Lucia, Martinique and Antigua normal; Dominica and Guadeloupe extreme to exceptionally wet; and St. Kitts very wet. The Guianas ranged from very wet to severely dry. Aruba was moderately dry but Curacao normal. Puerto Rico was extreme to exceptionally wet. Hispaniola ranged from slightly dry in the southwest to exceptionally wet in the north, but from moderately dry in the west to moderately wet in central areas. Grand Cayman was moderately wet. Conditions in western Cuba ranged from moderately wet to moderately dry, but from normal to exceptionally wet in the east. Northern Bahamas was normal, but Belize experienced conditions from severely dry in the west to extremely wet in the north and moderately wet to the south.

May to October 2017

Normal to above normal rainfall was experienced over the eastern Caribbean islands for the six month period. Trinidad was normal to extremely wet; Tobago, St. Lucia, Martinique and Antigua normal; Grenada and St. Kitts very wet; St. Vincent normal to slightly wet; Dominica moderate to very wet; and Guadeloupe extremely wet. Most of the Guianas was normal to exceptionally wet apart from the northern tip of Guyana. Aruba was slightly dry, but Curacao normal. Puerto Rico ranged from very wet in the west to exceptionally wet in the east. Conditions in Hispaniola ranged from moderately dry in the south west to moderately wet in the northeast, but from moderately dry to very wet in Jamaica. Grand Cayman was normal. In Cuba conditions ranged from slightly dry in west central Cuba to extremely wet in the west and southeast, but northern Bahamas ranged from slightly dry to slightly wet. Most of Belize was normal, but ranged to moderately wet in the north and south.

November 2016 to October 2017

Normal to above normal rainfall was experienced over the eastern Caribbean islands for the twelve month period. Trinidad ranged from normal in the west to exceptionally wet in the northeast; Tobago slight to moderately wet; Grenada very wet; Barbados exceptionally wet; St. Vincent extremely wet; St. Lucia normal to very wet; Martinique normal to slightly wet; Dominica moderate to exceptionally wet; Guadeloupe very to exceptionally wet; Antigua slightly wet; and St. Kitts moderate to very wet. Conditions in the Guianas ranged from moderate to exceptionally wet. Aruba was normal but Curacao moderately wet. Puerto Rico was predominantly exceptionally wet. Conditions in Hispaniola ranged from moderately dry in the southwest to exceptionally wet in the northeast, but in Jamaica was from slightly dry in the west to very wet in central areas. Grand Cayman was moderately dry. Western Cuba ranged from very wet to moderately dry, while eastern Cuba was from normal to moderately wet. Northern Bahamas ranged from normal to extremely dry. Belize was predominantly normal.

November 2015 to October 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.