Recent rainfall has improved short-term precipitation deficits, streamflow and crop stress in a few areas of west-central and eastern Puerto Rico. As a result, abnormal dryness was reduced in coverage on the western and eastern halves of Puerto Rico. Temperatures this week were above normal, mostly ranging from 1-3 degrees warmer than normal.
This was a drier week for parts of the U.S. Virgin Islands, where precipitation amounted to 0.65 inches on the west end of St. Thomas, while the eastern part of the island was left fairly dry, according to local observers. St. Croix observers reported 0.19 inches to 0.89 inches on the west end, and lighter amounts to the east. Rainfall for St. John was virtually nonexistent.
In terms of drought, St. Thomas remained abnormally dry in the long term, while St. Croix and St. John were free of dryness. Rainfall has been above normal for St. Croix in the past month, while St. John received 5.66 inches at Windswept Beach in February, which is a record for that location. March, however, has been rather dry for St. John.
The Standardized Precipitation Index indicated neutral or wet conditions at all time scales for St. John. The same was true for East Hill on St. Croix, except at the 12-month SPI, which indicated mild dryness. Missing precipitation data for St. Thomas prevented the calculation of SPIs for that island.
Well levels on all three islands have responded positively to precipitation within the past two weeks. The Vegetation Health Index for all islands showed good conditions on all islands.
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