Will a tropical depression save Florida's drought.

[CrazyC83]

If a numbered depression caused Allison-type damage, can that number be retired?

[boca]

If a numbered depression caused Allison-type damage, can that number be retired?

How would they number depressions?

[vbhoutex]

I was reading in the paper that the current drought that Florida is in is the worst in 77 years. We need several strong tropical waves or depressions to come thru the area. We need Allison of 2001 that hit Houston and dropped 30 inches+ to happen to South Florida. I am -removed- for this to happen because I don't won't salt water intrusion to affect the water table.

As one who experienced that I CAN GUARANTEE YOU DON'T WANT ALLISON or anything similar to her. Where I live in Houston, we only had 11" of rain(in less than six hours including 4.5" of it in one hour) that fateful night. I was literally up all night long making sure water didn't come into the house and online with Houston S2K members who were looking for husbands, etc. IT IS NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE.

Pray for a good soaking rain for a few times instead of another Allison like event.

[Janie2006]

You don't want a Hurricane Danny (1997 or '98?) event, either. It was only a weak category 1 storm, but it dropped up to 40 inches of rain over Mobile Bay, as estimated by NWS radar....it basically stalled over the area.

That being said, often tropical waves and depressions can break droughts. You just don't want an overwhelming amount of rain all at once.

[jdray]

I think mother nature will level us out.

Sure... But South Florida has to get a better handle on its water supply. The South-East of Florida is still growing, but our rainfall and water supply isn't. Personally, I would like the water utilities to charge us all $3 extra a month and put that money into desalinization plants like Jupiter has and other water savings features. I am fearful that one day we will wake up and our water bills will be double of what they were because of bad planning.

NE Florida is not far behind South Florida.
Only Clay County and part of St Johns County recycle water.
My lawn is watered by reclaimed water.
Clay County is actually running out of reclaimed water and is looking to Duval County (Jacksonville) for its waste water to treat and sell to homeowners for irrigation!

[Hyperstorm]

I wouldn't worry too much about the drought right now. Yes, it is dry, but it is not exceptional. 1998-2000 is what I call an exceptional drought. We will get rain, I'm sure starting late May and into the summer months. Another Alberto would be a nice start...

[jdray]

What concerns me more is SE Georgia is under drought conditions, a 19,000 acre fire is burning.

Fire season really hasn't started yet.

[AussieMark]

maybe I am wrong here but it sounds like you need consistent soaking rain. Not just a storm that drops 5-10 inches in one day and moves on.

If the area is all parched it doesn't help the situation. It will just runoff basically and not get absorbed as much. Thats in my experience as we have had similar situations after droughts here.

[senorpepr]

If a numbered depression caused Allison-type damage, can that number be retired?

No. Depressions have killed hundreds of people and they weren't retired either. Numbers and letters (Phonic and Greek) cannot be retired.

How would they number depressions?

All depressions are given a number rather than a name.

[JonathanBelles]

I got a little rain tonight.

[boca]

I heard that watering lawns and washing cars are going to be once a week now just on Sat and Sun.

[jdray]

Not for me, at least for watering my grass.

We (with reclaimed water) can do as much as we want, otherwise they pump excess treated wastewater into the St Johns River.
Its better for the environment to use the wastewater this way.

Washing cars OTOH, well, I would not use that water!


Its pretty bad up here to with drought like conditions. A quick spark turns into 300 acres within an hour.

[boca]

Pretty soon we'll be able to walk across Lake Okeechobee and not get our feet wet. Only kidding I think the lake level is around 9.89 ft.

http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/omd/rt_L.OKEE.html

[TampaFl]

[DESTRUCTION5]

Gotta love MC is the worst on this map and there are no restrictions..

[GeneratorPower]

Tampa, your map has no labels, no indication of where it came from, etc. This could be population density for all I know!

[MiamiensisWx]

Tampa, your map has no labels, no indication of where it came from, etc. This could be population density for all I know!

The map indicates the current KBDI drought index for the state of Florida. Typically, it is updated on a daily basis.

[boca]

Destruction5 your under water restrictions too, like us in Palm Beach County.

[Patrick99]

Interesting that Miami-Dade and Monroe are in the green. I know we've received more rain than the rest of S. FL so far, but I had no idea it was that much more.

Still, if we have a dry May, I'm sure we'll be back in the red. And the rainy season, who knows what will happen. Do we ever have a "normal" rainy season anymore? As a kid, I remember pretty regular afternoon thunderstorms. These days, it seems we go for many days with nothing but sun, then there are a couple of interludes with nothing but rain. I hate that kind of weather. A July day in Miami with nothing but sun is absolutely unbearable. I want my natural air conditioning back.

[punkyg]

unlike you patrick i don't mind it being sunny most of the time, cause every week or two it rains
and thats good enough for me.