Rain totals of 1-5 inches fell in parts of central, north-central and western Puerto Rico. This led to improvement of severe and moderate drought and abnormal dryness in central and north-central parts of the island. Recent rainfall also allowed a small amount of improvement to extreme drought in southeast Puerto Rico.

This week, the dominant atmospheric pattern changed from the influence of the remnants of Hurricane Dolly early in the week to a southeast trade-wind regime. This brought passing showers and isolated thunderstorms, followed by slightly drier air on September 8. While this week's rainfall helped in some areas, it was not enough to alleviate the ongoing extreme drought conditions, particularly the significant groundwater deficits observed at monitoring wells.

St. Croix experienced highly variable rainfall this week. The NWS/NOAA station at East Hill recorded 0.10 inches. The CoCoRaHS network recorded 0.14 inch at Christiansted 1.6 E (VI-SC-10), 0.11 inch at Frederiksted 1.7 ESE (VI-SC-20), 0.44 inch at Christiansted 6.5 W (VI-SC-23), 0.20 inch at Christiansted 1.7 SW (VI-SC-30), 1.14 inches at Frederiksted 1.9 NE (VI-SC-34), and 0.88 inch at Frederiksted 1.3 ENE (VI-SC-35). Thus, reported rainfall ranged from 0.10 to 1.14 inches, with the largest amount occurring in the Frederiksted area. These observations indicate that rainfall was locally substantial but unevenly distributed across the island. Despite the rainfall, the groundwater conditions remained very poor. At Adventure 28 Well, the water level on September 8 was 25.66 ft, compared with 18.67 ft on September 8, 2025, indicating the water level was about 6.99 ft lower than a year earlier. These conditions indicate continued extreme drought.

This week, St. John experienced locally significant rainfall, although available observations are limited. The Rafe Boulon (VI-SJ-3) station at Windswept Beach recorded 1.47 inches, while the CoCoRaHS station VI-SJ-5 at Cruz Bay 1.6 E recorded 1.04 inches. Both stations measured over 1 inch of rainfall, indicating that parts of St. John received a beneficial amount of precipitation during the week. However, the groundwater situation remained much less favorable. At Susannaberg DPW 3 well, the water level on September 8 was measured at 18.64 feet below the land surface, compared to 10.14 feet on September 8, 2025. This 8.50-foot difference indicates the groundwater level is substantially deeper now than it was a year ago. Observations showed that the depth continued to increase from the previous week, and St. John remains in extreme drought conditions.

St. Thomas observed significant variability in rainfall this week. While Cyril E. King Airport recorded no rainfall, CoCoRaHS station VI-ST-5 at Charlotte Amalie West 4.2 WNW measured 1.19 inches, and station VI-ST-15 at Charlotte Amalie West 1.3 N recorded 0.51 inches. This shows a rainfall range of 0.00 to 1.19 inches. On September 8, groundwater levels were at 9.76 feet, slightly up from 9.88 feet the previous week. However, this is still much higher than the 7.77 feet recorded on September 8, 2025, making it about 1.99 feet deeper than last year. Despite this week's minor improvement in groundwater depth, St. Thomas continues to experience extreme drought conditions.

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