Latin America Update #15

Dry weather pushes back into Argentina and Uruguay at the same time that moderate rains returned to the areas of Brazil that experienced flooding a few weeks ago. Those moderate rains reach back across parts of Paraguay, Bolivia and eastern Peru. Big changes are on the way in Colombia, as the weeks of dryness come to a close and most of the continent prepares to get soaked.

South America has resumed its rainfall pattern from earlier in the year. Moderate rains across southern Brazil, extending eastward across parts of Paraguay and Bolivia. In some of the rain forest communities of Peru, in the southeast of the country, there have been reports of scattered flooding. Additional flooding is likely in the lowland areas of Bolivia.

Dryness has pushed back into Uruguay, although not severe, and Argentina has dried out, but after a couple of weeks of little rainfall this dryness, if it remains short-term, will not further damage crops. Unfortunately, however, it appears that that dryness will not be leaving Argentina during the next week. In contrast, light to moderate rains will return to Uruguay.

The coming week is going to see an intensification of rainfall across the continent.  Heavy rains are expected from Colombia southward, covering Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and of course Brazil. The heavy rains in Bolivia include the high desert areas, which flood very easily. This rainfall event will occur over many areas that have flooded during the past month and the additional rain could trigger another round of fatalities and destruction. Colombia, whose flooding event ended last year, is not as likely to see a severe flooding event, due to the extended dry period that has intervened, although isolated flooding remains a possibility there.