Drought — Micronesia, Guam

2020-10-01 to 2020-10-31 · Micronesia, Guam

Event narrative

The rainfall on Kapingamarangi from the 1st to the 28th of October was 0.87 inches, which is 11% of normal. The persisting dry weather pattern caused Kapingamarangi to go from Extreme Drought (D3) to D4 (Exceptional Drought).

Residents of Kapingamarangi submitted an urgent request for water on 1 Oct. The Federated States Ship (FSS), Independence arrived several days later with 730 gallons of potable water. Efforts are being made to use the ship's desalinization unit to refill Kapingamarangi's empty water tanks. A second relief trip departed Pohnpei Oct 30 to bring additional water and food supplies.

As of 27 October, five of the six primary water tanks on Kapingamarangi are empty and vegetation is mostly brown.

Wider weather episode

Drought continues across Kapinamarangi but has decreased across Wotje.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 924461. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.