Recent changes in climate extremes in the Caribbean region

A January 2001 workshop held in Kingston, Jamaica, brought together scientists and data from around the Caribbean region and made analysis of indices of extremes derived from daily weather observation in the region possible. The results of the analyses indicate that the percent of days having very warm maximum or minimum temperatures increased strongly since the late 1950s while the percent of days with very cold temperatures decreased. One measure of extreme precipitation shows an increase over this time period while the one analyzed measure of dry conditions, the maximum number of consecutive dry days, is decreasing. These changes generally agree with what is observed in many other parts of the world.