Latin America Update #27: Rains Increase in C America, decrease in the far South

Rains have increased slightly over the past week in Central America. At the same time, precipitation has all but shut off in southern South America. Dry weather persisted in northeastern South America, as did the excessive rain, in flood ravaged Colombia.

A good steady start to the rains in Central America. Moisture remains primarily focused over the more mountainous areas of the subcontinent, however this is typical for this early in the season. By June steady moderate precipitation should be observed over the whole region. Meanwhile in the Caribbean, moderate to even heavy rain, unseasonable for this time of year, fell across Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The season may be over with along the Rio de la Plata with little to no rainfall expected over the next week. It was a poor, though not disastrous, season in northern Argentina and Paraguay, and a barely satisfactory one southern Brazil and Uruguay.

Northeastern South America, especially in Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, precipitation has been sparse for over a month now. This is putting a strain on water supplies and possibly causing some problems for crops and livestock. Little to no improvement is expected during the next week in this region.

Heavy rains continued in central Colombia. This caused additional flooding, and likely prevented any clean up from the ongoing disaster. Assistance is needed, as is an ended to the torrential downpours that, at the moment, show no sign of relenting.