No drought changes were made in Puerto Rico this week. Temperatures were near normal across the island.

Rainfall during the last 1.5 to 3 months has been persistently if not dramatically below normal. This led to St. John, St. Thomas, and St. Croix all receiving a D0 designation. Precipitation has remained below normal through the first 9 days of December, but amounts appear sufficient to keep all 3 islands in D0 again this week, although deterioration to D1 could occur in the near future if amounts remain lacking.

Generally 0.35” to 0.65” fell in the vicinity of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas so far this December, bringing 30-day totals to just under 2” at C.E.King Airport. Longer-term totals are closer to normal, however, with about 9” reported over the last 60 days, and nearly 15” measured the most recent 90 days. November brought only 2.22” of rain to King Airport, but during October, areas around Charlotte Amalie observed 7” to over 10” of rain. St. Thomas may be on the cusp of drought (D1), but rainfall has been fairly frequent if not very heavy, so D0 is maintained on the island this week.

St. Croix also remains at D0 this week, but rainfall has been a bit more generous here since the start of December. Between 0.6” and 1.5” fell around most of Christiansted during December 1-9 while 0.9” to 2.3” dampened Frederiksted. Totals for the last 30 days are 2.83” and 2.68” respectively, which is considerably below normal. Longer-term numbers are closer to normal, with 60-day totals of 6.5” to 9.0” recorded, and 14.5” to 20.3” falling during the past 90-days. With slightly wetter conditions this past week, St. Croix does not appear as close to reaching D1 as St. Thomas and St. John.

Across, St. John, most locations reported 0.5” to 0.8” during December 1-9, with somewhat lower amounts measured across the east-central interior near Bordeaux. East Hill reports only about 2” of rain over the past 30 days (normal is almost 4.5”), but like most other locations across the U.S. Virgin Islands, this follows a fairly dry November with prior months being closer to normal. November brought anywhere from 2.0” to 2.7” to the various observing sites across St. John, which followed 3.9” to 7.3” totals for October, with that month’s highest totals observed at Bordeaux and Windswept Beach. Despite below-normal totals, rainfall this past week appears sufficient to maintain last week’s designation for the island (D0), although D1 may be introduced soon if rainfall doesn’t start to pick up.

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