Previous Story
Adequate showers finally return to the CNMI
Due to recent heavier rainfall amounts, the drought conditions across the CNMI have improved.
According to the latest drought statement from the CNMI Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, expect near or just below-adequate rainfall the next couple weeks. A relatively drier weather pattern is in place the next two weeks, but weak disturbances should provide enough rain. This prompted the agency to say this will be the last drought statement for the CNMI.
The advisory states that a weak to moderate monsoon trough meandered the past couple of weeks for western Micronesia. Although the monsoon trough stretched eastward at times, trade flow and embedded circulations were the fixture for eastern Micronesia. Chuuk and the Marianas were between these features during the past few weeks. Circulations were plentiful but most remained largely disorganized, with the exception of a couple that became better organized over the Philippine Sea. These disorganized circulations produced spotty heavy showers across the northern Marshalls, with Wotje in particular receiving 242% of normal August rainfall.
The Marianas experienced an impressive rainfall event during the afternoon of Aug. 27 when the monsoon trough lifted through the area. In Guam, rainfall totals for the three-day period exceeded 15 inches in some locations. Showery weather lingered through the morning of Aug. 29. The CNMI also received beneficial rains but totals were considerably lower. This three-day event brought August monthly rainfall much closer to normal for Guam and the CNMI. Kapingamarangi remained in a dry pattern as large-scale weather features sat farther north near Pohnpei and to the south across New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. (PR)
