Saint Lucia: Subnational Dekadal Rainfall Indicators and Forecasts

World Food Programme provides dekadal rainfall indicators for Saint Lucia's subnational administrative units based on CHIRPS v2 satellite-station data and CHIRPS-GEFS forecasts. The dataset tracks 10-day, 1-month, and 3-month rainfall totals, averages, and anomalies across multiple administrative levels. Updates occur six times per month to transition from initial forecasts to final observations.

Use Cases

• Assessing immediate moisture stress using the 10-day rainfall anomaly (rfq) at the subnational level
• Validating climate models by comparing the observed rainfall (rfh) against the long-term average (rfh_avg)
• Humanitarian resource allocation based on 3-month rolling rainfall aggregations (r3h) to identify regions at risk of food insecurity

Strengths

• Provides 9 distinct rainfall indicators including rolling 1-month and 3-month aggregations
• Features a high update frequency of six times per month for near-real-time monitoring
• Includes n_pixels count to provide transparency on the data density used for each administrative unit aggregation

Limitations

• Data for recent dekads is subject to change as the type column transitions from forecast to preliminary to final
• Geographic granularity is restricted to WFP-defined subnational administrative units rather than raw coordinates

Provenance

Source

World Food Programme (WFP) via CHIRPS and CHIRPS-GEFS

Collection Method

Satellite imagery (CHIRPS v2) combined with in-situ station data and GEFS forecasts

Freshness

Updated six times per month on a dekadal cycle

Geography

Saint Lucia