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Extreme drought persists in NMI
Recent rains on Tinian and Saipan have mitigated the persistent drought in the CNMI but only enough for the drought status to be improved from “exceptional” to “extreme.”
According to an advisory last Friday from the Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, rainfall has been near-adequate for most locations being monitored by the National Weather Service in Guam but still well below normal for Kapingamarangi, an atoll in Pohnpei of the Federated States of Micronesia, where severe drought persists, and across the CNMI, where extreme drought persists on Rota, Tinian and Saipan.
A number of weather features brought much needed rain to most islands across the region the last couple weeks. Passing upper-level lows and troughs, or TUTT cells, and weak disturbances brought showers to western Micronesia and the Marianas, while a waning intertropical convergent zone with embedded surface troughs brought showers to the eastern FSM and the Marshall Islands.
Officials across the CNMI report water levels are still above thresholds for concern.
Passing TUTT cells and weak disturbances passing near the region should provide near or above adequate rainfall for the CNMI, allowing for continued drought improvement. Nearby upper-level features will be key in locally higher rainfall totals for some areas. Current 10-day rainfall totals indicate around 3 inches of rain for Rota, Tinian, and Saipan. (PR)
