Concerns Over Short Term Drought In The Caribbean

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, April 14, 2020 (CMC) – The Barbados-based Caribbean Drought and Precipitation Monitoring Network (CDPMN) says, during the first half of the dry season, there is a clear distinction, between the wetter northern and drier southern islands of the Eastern Caribbean.

“There is much concern over short-term drought that can impact streams and rivers in the southern portion of the eastern chain, by the end of June 2020, with similar concerns for Suriname, French Guiana and eastern Belize,” the CPDMN said, in its latest Caribbean Drought Bulletin.

It added that concerns over long-term drought that can impact large rivers, reservoirs and ground water sources extends to most of the basin, with The Bahamas being an exception.

According to the CDPMN, short-term drought for the period, ending June 2020, shows that the ABC islands – Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao — as well as Barbados, east central Belize, the Windward Islands, except Dominica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, will have short-term drought conditions, while long-term drought situations will affect a number of countries, including some of those now experiencing short-term drought situations.

“Areas ending up in long-term drought, by the end of May, may experience significantly-reduced water levels in large reservoirs, large rivers and ground water, during the dry season,” the Bulletin warned.

It said that over the last three months, mixed conditions prevailed throughout the islands of the Eastern Caribbean, while Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Martinique and St. Croix were normal.

Barbados was moderately dry in the extreme southeast to normal on the north western border; St. Vincent severe to moderately dry, from south to north; St. Lucia slightly dry; Dominica mostly exceptionally-wet, with severe to slightly wet conditions in the north east; Northern Bahamas was predominantly normal, with a small area, which was slightly wet. Belize was predominantly normal, with slight to moderately dry conditions on the western border,” the CPDMN said.