By Sue-Ann Wayow
DO not expect much dry weather until March this year.
The Trinidad and Tobago Meteorological Service (TTMS) in its Trinidad and Tobago Dryness Monitor and Outlook by End of December 2022 stated, “There is no concern for dryness at this time.”
“The outlook for the next three months, December-January-February 2023 shows all areas are likely to be free from dryness in the short-term.” the report stated.
Last year, Trinidad and Tobago received copious amounts of rainfall from September to November, with torrential rainfall in October and November 2022.
Piarco, Trinidad monthly September-October-November totals range from about 205.8mm, 359.4mm and 469.9mm respectively, while Crown Point, Tobago monthly totals September-October-November
The month of November was above normal rainfall month for Trinidad but normal for Tobago with Trinidad having 21 relatively wet days , 16 wet days and two excessively wet days which gave a monthly tally of 469.9 mm beating the previous extreme of 442.9 mm and being the wettest November on record since 1946.
This was evident in the nationwide flooding during last November.
The TTMS stated that the accumulated rainfall received nationwide during the wet months of June to November 2022, together with the predicted volume of rainfall for December to February 2023 has removed any chances of dryness.
Frequent rainfall events are expected to continue into January-February 2023. The Dryness Outlook shows dryness indicator values between +0.28 and +0.35 are likely to develop across the vast majority of Trinidad and Tobago by February month end.
