Over the past week or so, frequent heavy rains spawned by a persistent trough of low pressure stretched across the northwestern Caribbean have lead to flooding and mudslides in several countries across the region. The torrential rains were responsible for at least 47 fatalities in Haiti in villages north of the capital. The poor island nation is especially vulnerable to mudslides due to deforestation in its mountainous regions. Cuba reported a 24-hour rainfall total as high as 306 mm (about 12 inches). The same weather pattern also impacted Jamaica and Central America. In Costa Rica, a rain-induced landslide buried 14 people. At least 20 people have died across Central America. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite (known as TRMM) was launched back in November of 1997 with the primary mission of measuring rainfall from space. The TRMM-based, near-real time Multi- satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is used to monitor rainfall over the global tropics. MPA rainfall totals are shown above for the western Caribbean and neighboring areas for the period 4-14 October 2007. The highest rainfall totals for the period (shown in red) are on the order of 400 to 500 mm (~16 to 20 inches) are located right along and just off the southern coast of Cuba. Haiti received at least 100 mm (~4 inches) of rain, which is shown by the green areas. Jamaica, Costa Rica and El Salvador also received substantial amounts of rain.

Click to see a quicktime animation (3.6 MB) showing rainfall accumulation.