Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua, the largest of the Leeward Islands, and its sister island Barbuda make up a two-island state whose temperatures and humidity around the year are very similar to those described in the general entry for the Caribbean, as are the amount and distribution of sunshine. The tables for points on two other islands in the eastern Caribbean, Roseau on Dominica and Plymouth on Montserrat, show that near sea level, the annual rainfall is about 1,250-2,000 mm/50-80 in, well distributed throughout the year, with a wetter season from July to November. The table for Camp Jacob on the island of Guadeloupe, also in the Leeward Islands, shows that rainfall increases at higher elevations and on the windward slopes exposed to the constant and moist northeast trade winds.

Antigua and Barbuda lie in the track of violent tropical hurricanes which are most likely to develop between August and October. Although the severest of these storms may only strike every few years, these are always the months of heaviest rainfall.

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