Spatial distribution of tropical cyclone rainfall and its contribution to the climatology of Puerto Rico

This study explores two different tropical cyclone rainfall (TCR) problems: first, the identification of areas where TCR is highly concentrated and, second, the contribution of tropical cyclones (TCs) to the climatology of Puerto Rico for the period 1970–2010. A total of 86 storms within a 500-km radius of Puerto Rico were analyzed. Daily and monthly rainfall data from 32 weather stations were used to generate interpolated surfaces. Two geostatistical interpolation techniques were implemented: ordinary kriging and ordinary cokriging. Results show that rainfall from most TCs tends to be clustered in the eastern, southeastern, and central regions of the island, with a decrease in values toward the west. TCs closer to Puerto Rico (≤230 km) and embedded in high moisture environments (≥44.5 mm) exhibited the highest rainfall values, with most concentrated in the high elevation areas of the southeastern region of the island. Months with the largest TC contributions to rainfall (20–30%) were August and September, while the lowest contributions were found in June and November. For August, stations in the southern and eastern portions of the island had TCR contributions of >20%, with some stations in the southern coastal plains exhibiting 30%.