Drought monitoring

Both islands are lower and drier than mainland Grenada and lack the interior highlands that generate orographic rainfall. They also depend more heavily on rainwater harvesting, so a dry spell reaches households faster.

A drought that is an inconvenience on mainland Grenada can be a water supply emergency on Petite Martinique.

Drought status combines rainfall deficits over several timescales — one month, three months and six months — because short and long dry spells have different consequences. A single dry month is not a drought; a persistent deficit across months is.

Assessment is done with water resources authorities, since the impact depends on storage and demand as much as on rainfall.