Barbados is under a Hydrological Drought Watch for April and May, even as rainfall figures for the year remain above average, the Barbados Meteorological Services (BMS) has confirmed.
The warning comes midway through the dry season, which officially runs through May. Residents are also being cautioned to “be aware” of the possibility of agricultural drought – a separate but related concern that speaks to the stress being placed on the island’s soil and crops during the prolonged dry spell.
The drought watch may come as a surprise to some, given that rainfall totals for 2026 are currently tracking above the historical average. However, the BMS said that figure is heavily skewed by a single weather event – a low-level trough that swept through the island on January 29th and 30th, producing approximately 82 per cent more rainfall than typically recorded for the entire month of January.
The station at Charnocks, Christ Church, has already surpassed its climatological average for March, but the BMS is cautioning against complacency. With dry spells, defined as at least seven consecutive days recording less than 1mm of rainfall, common at this time of year, the service says the public must remain alert to changing conditions for the remainder of the season.
Adding to the dry season picture is a dominant high-pressure system, which the BMS describes as typical for this time of year. The system is responsible for the brisk trade winds currently being felt across the island, which have in turn led to frequent agitation of the seas and prompted the BMS to issue a series of marine advisories in recent weeks, including small craft and high surf warnings.
Those same winds may also be behind what many Barbadians are interpreting as unusually cool conditions. Overnight temperatures are, in fact, still running about two degrees above the historical norm, but successive days of strong winds are making conditions feel more comfortable than they have in the last two to three years, creating the perception of a coolerthan- normal season. The BMS also said that periodic intrusions of Saharan dust into Barbados and the wider Eastern Caribbean are a feature of this time of year, and can affect air quality across the region.
With the dry season set to run for several more weeks, the BMS is urging the public to monitor its latest forecasts covering rainfall, wind, dust haze and marine conditions year-round.
