At last, another peak rainfall month.................

 The month of May showed once again, as it has at times in the past, that it can produce quite heavy rainfall.  The monthly rainfall of 188.5 millimeters or 7.42 inches at V.C Bird Int'l airport, was way above the monthly average of 3.97 inches.  This rainfall however occurred as a result of two main rainfall periods; one from the 11^th -14^th, which produced 59.5 millimeters/ 2.34 inches and the wetter period from the 19^th -25^th  that produced 112.8 millimeters/ 4.44 inches of rainfall.  The rest of the month, with the exception of the 1^st to the 4^th, was mostly fair with a few scattered showers.  Winds were mainly from the East at about 14 knots while the atmospheric pressure was above normal.  Seas were mainly moderate to locally rough with swells 1.8-2 meters or 6-8 feet.

A strong high pressure ridge dominated weather conditions the islands from the 1^st maintaining  a brisk wind flow across the islands.  However an embedded trough and patches of low level clouds, and occasional moisture moving across the islands led to a few scattered showers from the 1^st to the 4^th.  The high pressure ridge continued to control the weather across the islands from the 5^th with little or no showers activity up to the 10^th.   Winds were from the East South East at about 14 knots.  Seas were moderate to locally rough swells 1.8-2.4m or 6-8ft. A small craft advisory remained in effect for choppy seas and strong gusty winds.

The remains of a diffused frontal boundary across the North East Caribbean and an upper level trough over the Southern Windwards generated cloudy to overcast skies over the entire Eastern Caribbean.  Much of the cloudiness was of the high level type but embedded lower level clouds led to scattered showers across the islands.  These showers produced the first period of rainfall as mentioned before, then gave way to a drier period from the 15^th to the 20^th even though skies remained somewhat cloudy.  Winds were mainly Easterly at about 15 knots while seas were moderate to locally rough at times with swells up to 7 feet.  A small craft advisory was put into effect.

A trough of low pressure across the Eastern Caribbean along with a persistent upper level trough over the Southern Windwards, continued to create unstable weather conditions leading to cloudy to overcast skies with sometimes numerous showers, and  thunderstorms across the entire Eastern Caribbean. Almost 5 inches of rainfall occurred during the period 19^th - 25^th at V.C Bird Int'l airport with amounts recorded being as high as 9 inches in some places across the islands.  The month's highest 24-hour rainfall 42.7 millimeters occurred on the 21^st and the highest 6-hour 28.8 millimeters on the 24^th.  This rainfall led to flash flooding in some places and some damages which include the washing away of bridges in one or two locations.  A flash flood watch was declared prior to the time of this activity.  The aforementioned conditions continued until the 24^th when the trough of low pressure and the tropical wave that had been affecting the weather weakened slightly, bringing about a slow improvement in the existing weather conditions but continued to affect islands in the vicinity of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico up to the 27^th.  Winds were mainly form the East at 13 knots; seas remained moderate to locally rough with swells 2.1m or 7ft. A small craft advisory remained in effect.

A high pressure ridge once again dominated weather conditions across the islands from the 25^th to the end of the month, maintaining fairly stable conditions.  The exception being the result of a Westward moving tropical wave, which affected mainly the southern islands but generated some low level moisture that moved over the Northern Windward and Leeward islands, producing a few showers on the 29^th.  Winds were mainly from the East South East at  12.7 knots while the seas had become slight to moderate with waves 1.2-1.8m or 4-6ft. Small craft operators were asked to exercise caution mainly on the Atlantic side of the islands.

MONTHLY WEATHER SUMMARY
 FOR THE PERIOD 01/05/2004 AT 13:00 TO 01/06/2004 AT 12:00

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Monthly Comparison with the long-term average Rainfall

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 Keithley Meade