Text Products for DGT Issued by SJU

Drought Information Statement
Issued by NWS San Juan, PR
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Drought Information Statement...CORRECTED
National Weather Service San Juan PR
951 AM AST Thu Aug 31 2023

...Drought conditions continue across Puerto Rico and the US
Virgin Islands...

.SYNOPSIS:

Over the past 60 days, the southern coast of the island has seen
greater than 150% of normal rainfall, removing all drought. Most
of the interior and northern coast has seen near-normal to above-
normal rainfall. The only exception is the northwest coast, where
rainfall deficits of 2–4 inches are common. San Juan has seen
near-normal rainfall almost every month and is now at 30.48
inches, or about 3.5 inches below normal year-to-date.

As far as the US Virgin Islands, the year-to-date rain total of
12.24 inches at Saint Croix Airport is over 5 inches below the
normal of 17.50 inches, making this the 9th driest year-to-date
on record in 62 years. St. Thomas’ year-to-date rainfall of 10.60
inches at Cyril King Airport is the 4th driest in 55 years of
data, and a whopping 9.25 inches below normal.

.Drought intensity and extent:

Around 16% of Puerto Rico is currently considered dry or in
drought according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, with nearly 8%
categorized as Moderate Drought (D1). This is focused across
northwest Puerto Rico from Arecibo westward to Isabela.

Across the US Virgin Islands, Moderate Drought (D1) is observed
across Saint John, and Extreme Drought (D3) across both Saint
Thomas and Saint Croix.

.Hydrologic conditions:

The 28-day average streamflow from the USGS river gauge network
indicates most streamflows running below or well below normal
across western areas of Puerto Rico as well as a few spots across
the eastern half of the island. For the water supply reservoirs,
only Guajataca is at observational levels. All the others
reservoirs are at optimal conditions.

.SUMMARY OF IMPACTS:

* Livestock and dairy farmers in the coastal Southwest region of
  Puerto Rico experienced periods of rain from mid-July. The
  rains have been short-lived, followed by high temperatures
  (sometimes 98 degrees) causing great evapotranspiration and
  affecting the growth of pastures. In the coastal south region
  (Juana Díaz and Coamo municipality), pastures have maintained
  green on a weekly basis, and no overall abnormally dry
  conditions have been noticed in the past few weeks. Dry spells
  affected farmers in the central region of Puerto Rico
  (Naranjito, Comerío, Cidra, and Barranquitas) during some weeks
  in June. Fruit trees grown in high tunnels experienced stress by
  lack of water. Plantains and root crops were less affected by
  dry conditions because farmers incorporated cover crops and
  maintained weeds on site, which helped retain soil humidity.
  Even though dry conditions were noted, it has not been worse
  than other years.

* Farmers on St.Thomas report that ponds are slowly filling due
  to sporadic rains. Winds, often above 20 mph, reduced soil
  moisture. Due to almost-daily concerns about heat (90°F or
  above) and humidity at or above 75%, and current drought
  conditions, farmers are planning and preparing irrigation and
  water efficiency tools to better manage water as part of a
  longer-term mitigation and conservation plan. Many are
  considering the use of permaculture and/or tree planting to
  create shade areas to aid them with soil moisture retention.
  Specialty and row crop farmers are working to manage water usage
  by installing gravity-fed irrigation tools and are moving to
  more drought-tolerant crops to keep production up while still
  conserving water. Many are still not planting due to drought
  conditions and are working on land management practices to aid
  them during non-drought periods. Livestock farmers are rotating
  livestock.

* Row and specialty crop farmers on St. John report that recent
  rains are helping alleviate the dry conditions. However, high winds
  and excessive heat are reducing soil moisture retention and
  negatively impacting farmers. Most are currently focusing on
  microgreens, fruit trees, and quick crops to keep production up
  and are rotating crops. Most are also preparing land for the wet
  season, when they hope to increase production and make up for
  sales that were reduced during the dry season and this current
  drought.

* Farmers report that recent intermittent showers at Saint Croix are
  not penetrating the soil due to evaporation from high winds.
  Livestock farmers are working to plan for feed shortages later
  this summer due to a lack of grass during the hotter months. The
  Virgin Islands Department of Agriculture (VIDA) is currently
  buying and storing hay. Growers reported losses of more than 203
  livestock along with 20 horses since April. Poultry farmers
  report that egg production has been reduced by up to 50% due to
  the heat, and they are concerned because there is little to no
  Ginney grass and chickens are not eating grain. Extreme heat is
  increasing water usage for farmers and causing lower egg
  production during this molting season. Farmers who have poultry,
  including both broilers and/or egg production, have smaller
  numbers because they must collect water in containers or use
  cistern water.

.DROUGHT MITIGATION ACTIONS:

During a drought, use the following water conservation measures:
 * Water your lawn less often
 * Identify and fix leaks
 * Take shorter showers
 * Turn off the water while brushing teeth
 * Run the wash less frequently
 * Heed any local water use restrictions

.LOCAL DROUGHT OUTLOOK:

Additional localized improvements are possible with the recent
and projected rains. The climatological models indicate above
normal rainfall through October.

.NEXT ISSUANCE DATE:

This product will be updated by mid September or sooner if
drought conditions change significantly.

.RELATED WEB SITES:

Additional information on current drought conditions may be found
at the following web addresses:

U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR...
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu

NATIONAL INTEGRATED DROUGHT INFORMATION SYSTEM...
https://www.drought.gov

NOAA WFO SJU DROUGHT PAGE...
https://www.weather.gov/sju/dss_climo

USGS...
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis

CARIBBEAN INSTITUTE FOR METEOROLOGY AND HYDROLOGY/ CIMH...
https://rcc.cimh.edu.bb/outlook-precipitation

PR WATER AUTHORITY...
https://acueductospr.com/niveles-de-los-embalses

Additional water and river information:
NWS:
https://water.weather.gov
OWP:
https://water.noaa.gov
US Geological Survey (USGS):
https://water.usgs.gov
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE):
https://www.usace.army.mil

.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

The Drought Monitor is a multi-agency effort involving the
National Weather Service and National Centers for Environmental
Information, the USDA, state and regional center climatologists
and the National Drought Mitigation Center. Information for this
statement has been gathered from NWS and FAA observation sites,
state cooperative extension services, the USDA, USACE and USGS.

.CONTACT INFORMATION:

If you have questions or comments about this Drought Information
Statement, please contact:

4000 Carretera 190
Carolina, PR 00979
PHONE: 787-253-4586
EMAIL: sr-sju.webmaster@noaa.gov

$$
National Weather Service National Headquarters
