The Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), says despite many parts of the Caribbean continuing to receive below-normal rainfall in May, the outlook for drought across the region is to be alleviated by August.
In its latest publication, CIMH said the drought “is still very much on the cards and likely to continue throughout the wet season with no long-term drought that affects large reservoirs and rivers and groundwater being of concern.
“Though interests in western Belize would be recommended to monitor their water resources until at least to September, there is not much concern in the region over short-term drought that can impact small rivers, streams, and ponds.”
CIMH said over the three-month period, March to May, conditions throughout the eastern Caribbean were predominantly normal to below normal, with a few wet areas in the southern portions of the chain.
Climate change is impacting the Caribbean, with millions facing increasing food insecurity and decreasing freshwater availability as droughts become more likely across the region. Climate models consistently project a significant drying in the Caribbean during climate change, and between 2013 and 2016 the region experienced the worst multiyear drought in the historical period.
Because of the tropical setting, the climatology of the Caribbean and Central America is characterized by a relatively small seasonal change in temperature, but a pronounced variation in precipitation. The Caribbean Islands and Central America are prone to short, intense droughts that often cause losses in agriculture, municipal water shortages, and decreased hydropower generation.
CMC/
, says the outlook for drought across the region is to be alleviated by August.){kind=link}