Drought — Belau, Guam

2016-02-01 to 2016-02-29 · Belau, Guam

Event narrative

The experimental drought assessment of the U.S. Drought Monitor indicates that some locations in the Republic of Palau had entered a period of extreme drought conditions (Drought level 3).

Rainfall across The Republic of Palau continued to be lower than average. During February only 2.55 inches fell at the Weather Service Office as opposed to the average rainfall of 9.54 inches.

Peleliu, another island in the Republic, also showed the effect of the drought with only 1.93 inches falling in February compared to the average rainfall of 9.00 inches at that location.

As the drought has persisted for months the water supply has suffered in the Republic. Low water pressure in the water lines from the Nagerimel dam to Airai treatment plant promoted water rationing in Koror and Airai.

Wider weather episode

The experimental drought assessment of the U.S. Drought Monitor indicate that some locations in the Republic of Palau, Yap State, Pohnpei States, and parts of the Marshall Islands continue to be in a period of moderate to severe drought with some locations entering extreme drought levels (Drought Level 3)

Increasingly dry conditions usually develop across Micronesia after the mature phase of a strong El Nino.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 620333. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.