ISSUED AT: 09:06 AM

Date: Wednesday 17th of April 2024

Definition Guide:

Term	Amount of Rain	Type of day
Scanty Rainfall	Less than 1 mm	Relatively dry day
Moderate Rainfall	1-10 mm	Relatively wet day
Heavy Rainfall	10-50 mm	Wet day
Very Heavy Rainfall	Greater than 50 mm	Excessively wet day

Trinidad Rainfall Forecast for the 15-Day period of April (16^th – 30^th) 2024.

Figure 1.  Rainfall map of Trinidad showing expected mean rainfall totals for districts across Trinidad during the 15-day period (16^th -30^th) April 2024 and percentage probability of occurrence.

Eastern, and North-Eastern areas:

Moderate chance (30%) of mean daily rainfall up to 2.6 mm. 

 

South-Eastern areas:

Moderate chance (30%) of mean daily rainfall up to 2.6 mm

 

Southern areas

Moderate chance (40%) of mean daily rainfall up to 2.6 mm

 

South-Western areas 

Moderate chance (40%) of mean daily rainfall up to 1.3 mm

 

Central, West-Central, and inland areas

Moderate chance (60%) of mean daily rainfall up to 0.6 mm

 

Northern, North-Western areas

Moderate chance (40%) of mean daily rainfall up to 1.3 mm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tobago Rainfall Forecast for the 15-Day period of April (16^th – 30^th) 2024.

Figure 2.    Rainfall map of Tobago showing expected mean rainfall totals for districts across Tobago during the 15-day period (16^th - 30^th) April 2024 and percentage probability of occurrence.

North-Eastern areas 

Moderate chance (30%) of mean daily rainfall up to 2 mm

 

South-Western areas

Moderate chance (40%) of mean daily rainfall up to 1.3 mm

 

Sun and Moon Positions in the Sky April (16^th – 30^th) 2024.

The sun is presently at 10.5 degrees North latitude and with this position, the day-length or number of sunlight hours in Trinidad and Tobago from April 16^th will be 12 hours and 23 minutes, increasing slightly to 12 hours and 30 minutes by 30^th of April 2024. 

According to the moon’s phases, the (Full Moon Phase) 20^th – 22^nd are good days for planting aboveground crops and 23^rd – 24^th and 28^th – 29^th of April are good days for planting belowground crops. However, the 15^th – 19^th (First Quarter Phase) and 30^th of April are poor planting days. These days should be used for removing weeds, clearing land and ploughing fields.

 

Summary of Expected Weather: 

Mainly low to moderate rainfall amounts are expected during the fifteen days.

Wet days are expected for the second 15 days of April, from 19^th – 20^th with relatively wet days also possible on 21^st, 25^th - 27^th with less than 10.0 mm of rainfall, while on other days less than 3.0 mm is expected.

Trinidad and Tobago: 

Wet days are expected for the second 15 days of April, from 19^th – 20^th with relatively wet days also possible on 21^st, 25^th - 27^th with less than 10.0 mm of rainfall, while on other days less than 3.0 mm is expected.

The daily rainfall totals are forecast to range between 3.0 mm to 6.0 mm across different farmlands across the islands, favouring the southern, eastern and northeastern coastal areas of Trinidad and southwestern Tobago. The 15-day rainfall totals range between 10.0 mm and 40.0 mm in Trinidad, and range between 20.0 mm and 30.0 mm in Tobago.

Temperatures & Winds: 

Hot conditions are expected. Daily Maximum temperatures range between 32.0^°C to 34.0 °C throughout the period. However, temperatures are expected to have a real-feel or feels-like between 36.0 °C to 45.0 °C on most days. The minimum temperatures will range between 23.0 °C to 24.0 °C during most nights/early mornings, dropping lower in rural areas and valleys. 

In general, mostly moderate easterly to east-southeasterly winds with an average speed of 20-40 km/h are expected. Low rainfall totals, mostly moderate wind speeds, very warm or hot days, and warm feels-like temperatures will sustain average evapotranspiration rates in crops ranging between 5.0 to 15.0 mm per day. 

Moisture levels:

Over the fifteen-day period across Trinidad and Tobago, moisture levels are expected to be low to moderate with average daytime relative humidity values in the lower 50s to lower 80s, in terms of percentage. 

 

Highlighted Possible Impacts on Agriculture:

Expect a few showery interruptions during the second week in April. Mostly sunny, breezy with very warm to hot conditions interrupted by cloudy spells with showery outbreaks are expected during this second 15-day forecast period of April 2024. Therefore, greening of grazing pastures should continue. However, scheduling of irrigation days on fields to maintain optimal soil moisture would be necessary on most days. There is a moderate (40%) chance of heat stress in young livestock, newly germinated and transplanted seedlings onto fields. There is a moderate probability (40-60%) that strong winds may cause physical damage to young plants and flowering mature plants in exposed areas. There is also a low probability (30%) chance for fungi spread, insect pests and warm/moist weather diseases to develop in crop beds.

 

Weather Assessment for the period April 1^st to 15^th 2024.

Moderate to heavy rainfall amounts occurred during the first half of April across Trinidad and Tobago. The rainfall totals maps for the period 1^st to 15^th of April for Trinidad and Tobago are located below as figure 1 and figure 2.

Figure 1. Rainfall map of Trinidad showing measured rainfall totals for varying districts during period 1^st to 15^th of April 2024.

Figure 2. Rainfall map of Tobago showing measured rainfall totals for varying districts during period 1^st to 15^th of April 2024.

Temperatures:

Temperatures were warm to hot during the period 1^st – 15^th of April with the minimum nighttime temperature ranging from 22.6 ⁰C (10^th April) to 25.2 ⁰C (5^th April) and the maximum daytime temperature rising to 34.2 ⁰C (1^st April), in Trinidad.

Similarly, Tobago temperatures were warm to hot during the period 1^st – 15^th of April with the minimum nighttime temperature ranging from 24.2 ⁰C (3^rd April) to 27.0 ⁰C (4^th April) and the maximum daytime temperature rising to 32.8 ⁰C (2^nd April).

Date	Weather			Temperature	Heat Real Feel	Day Moisture (Relative Humidity)	Wind
16th	20% chance of showers	Less than 3.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Partly cloudy with few showers	Very Warm           Max/Min  Temperatures ℃ 33.0/24.0	Feels like 37-40 ℃	60-70%	Moderate Southeasterly 20 km/h Gust  40 km/h
17th	40% chance of showers	Less than 8.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Partly cloudy with showers	Warm          Max/Min  Temperatures ℃ 32.0/24.0	Feels like 37-40 ℃	60-70%	Moderate Southeasterly 20 km/h Gust  40 km/h
18th	40% chance of showers	Less than 8.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Mostly cloudy with showers	Warm Max/Min   Temperatures ℃ 32.0/23.0	Feels like 35-38 ℃	60-70%	Gentle  Southeasterly 10-20 km/h Gust  40 km/h
19th	60% chance of showers	Less than 13.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Cloudy  with showers	Warm Max/Min   Temperatures ℃ 32.0/23.0	Feels like 37-44 ℃	60-80%	Gentle   Southeasterly      10-20 km/h Gust  40 km/h

20th	60% chance of showers	Less than 13.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Cloudy with showers	Warm Max/Min  Temperatures℃ 31.0/23.0	Feels like 38-45 ℃	70-90%	Gentle  Southeasterly 10-20 km/h Gust  40 km/h
21st	40% chance of showers	Less than 8.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Mostly cloudy with showers	Warm        Max/Min  Temperatures ℃    31.0/23.0	Feels like 35-45 ℃	60-90%	Gentle Easterly 10-20 km/h Gust  40 km/h
22nd	20% chance of showers	Less than 4.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Partly sunny  cloudy with few showers	Warm Max/Min   Temperatures ℃     32.0/23.0	Feels like 37-45 ℃	60-80%	Gentle easterly 10-20 km/h Gust  40 km/h
23rd	20% chance of showers	Less than 3.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Mostly sunny with a light shower	Very Warm          Max/Min  Temperatures ℃    33.0/23.0	Feels like 36-48 ℃	50-80%	Gentle  easterly 10-20 km/h Gust  40 km/h
24th	20% chance of showers	Less than 3.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Partly cloudy with few showers	Very Warm           Max/Min  Temperatures ℃    33.0/23.0	Feels like 36-48 ℃	50-80%	Moderate easterly 20 km/h Gust  40 km/h
25th	40% chance of showers	Less than 6.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Partly cloudy with few showers	Very Warm           Max/Min  Temperatures ℃    33.5/24.0	Feels like 36-48℃	50-80%	Moderate easterly 20 km/h Gust  40 km/h
26th	40% chance of showers	Less than 6.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Mostly sunny with a light shower	Hot        Max/Min  Temperatures ℃    34.0/24.0	Feels like 38-52 ℃	50-80%	Moderate easterly 20 km/h Gust  40 km/h
27th	20% chance of showers	Less than 6.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Mostly sunny with a shower	Hot          Max/Min  Temperatures ℃    33.5/24.0	Feels like 38-49 ℃	50-80%	Moderate southeasterly 20 km/h Gust  40 km/h
28th	20% chance of showers	Less than 3.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Mostly sunny with a light shower	Hot        Max/Min  Temperatures ℃    33.5/24.0	Feels like 38-47 ℃	50-70%	Moderate southeasterly 20 km/h Gust  40 km/h
29th	20% chance of showers	Less than 3.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Mostly sunny with a light shower	Hot        Max/Min  Temperatures ℃    34.0/24.0	Feels like 36-44 ℃	50-70%	Moderate  Easterly 20 km/h Gust  40 km/h
30th	20% chance of showers	Less than 3.0 mm of    rainfall is possible	Mostly sunny with a light shower	Hot          Max/Min  Temperatures ℃    34.0/24.0	Feels like 36-44 ℃	50-70%	Moderate Easterly 20 km/h Gust  40 km/h