Worst dry season for T&T in four years
Anna-Lisa Paul alpaul@trinidadexpress.com
Wednesday, April 18th 2007
Public Utilities and Environment Minister, Pennelope Beckles, was not wrong when she said this dry season has been the worst in the last four years.
Guided by statistics for the period December 2006 to March 2007, officials at the Met Office yesterday confirmed that it has indeed been the driest period within the last four years, as only 293.9 mm of rainfall had been recorded.
This figure can be compared to statistics from previous years, which reveal that from December 2003 to March 2004, 315.9 mm of rainfall was recorded; from December 2004 to March 2005, 516.2 mm of rainfall was recorded; and from December 2005 to March 2006, 564.4 mm of rainfall was recorded.
Addressing the current water crisis last weekend, Beckles lamented the fact that many of the country's reservoirs remained between 65-75 per cent filled-a fact which prompted the Water and Sewerage Authority to ration supplies to many areas.
And with approximately six weeks left before the official start of the rainy season on June 1, officials at the Met Office yesterday stuck to their original prediction that this would be a "normal dry season".
Officials explained that the country has been experiencing long dry spells, along with short wet periods, and while there has not been continuous rainfall, short periods of rainfall have added to the monthly total.
Reiterating that this dry season has been the driest in the last four years, officials said it was normal when compared to the long term average of 304.1 mm of rainfall, with "normal" meaning the deviation from the long term average is still within the 20 percentile range.
