Will a tropical depression save Florida's drought.

[boca]

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.

[HurricaneHunter914]

Some people might hate me, but BRING ON THE DEPRESSIONS!

[boca]

Some people might hate me, but BRING ON THE DEPRESSIONS!

I don't hate you,depressions only produce winds between 25 and 38mph, no sweat.

[Derek Ortt]

we do NOT want Allison

That would flood the center of Miami and Lauderdale and cause billions in damage and kill many people

Careful what we wish for as we may just get it

[tgenius]

While I agree with Derek, we don't want something on the scope of Allison.. South FL really needs some rain. We had one heavy day last thursday, and some sprinkles over the weekend, but the 10 day forecast doesn't call for any day with over a 10% chance of precipitation.. that's somewhat concerning.

I don't know if its per chance, but I rememeber in 1992 that we had some serious droughts as well and then Andrew came through.

[jdray]

http://flame.fl-dof.com/fire_weather/KBDI/index.html

Nice swath across the state for drought index.
2004 was another year with high drought indexes.

2005 started off with a high KBDI as well.

[hial2]

Mother Nature somehow balances thing out..always has.

[boca]

I guess I should clarify what I meant by Allison. The heavy rain band that caused the flooding of 30 inches in Houston should happen over the Lake Ockechobee area, while we get about 10 inches along the SE coastal areas.

[HurricaneHunter914]

Some people might hate me, but BRING ON THE DEPRESSIONS!

I don't hate you,depressions only produce winds between 25 and 38mph, no sweat.

Thanks. Even a tropical wave would do us some good, I hope this season gives enough rain to make my lawn look like a lawn.

[hial2]

[quote=

Thanks. Even a tropical wave would do us some good, I hope this season gives enough rain to make my lawn look like a lawn.[/quote]

You're probably the only one that doesn't cheat with the water!!!!

[Opal storm]

I guess I should clarify what I meant by Allison. The heavy rain band that caused the flooding of 30 inches in Houston should happen over the Lake Ockechobee area, while we get about 10 inches along the SE coastal areas.

That would solve your drought problem but at the same time would cause major deadly flooding.I remember we got 10 inches of rain in one day here in Pensacola during the spring of 2005 and the whole city was shutdown.People's homes were flooded and cars were stranded on the roadways,it was a disaster.

Careful what you wish for.

[JonathanBelles]

I think a tropical depression would definatly help, but an allison would be overkill.

[senorpepr]

Yes, a tropical depression or wave would help, but even ten-inches of precipitation would provide more negative effects than positive.

The key is to saturate the soil to where it gathers as much moisture as possible without allowing water to puddle and/or run off. Once you get to the over-saturation point (or the precip is falling quicker than the soil can absorb it), then you start increasing the risk of erosion and other soil-/vegetation-related issues.

Instead of ten inches of rain (or even five inches), several days of widespread, light rain would be better.

Of course, better soil management would prove to be superior.

[Aslkahuna]

To be a bit facetious, why would want to SAVE the Drought-I thought you would want to destroy and eliminate the drought. Senor is right-what you want is a duration rain that soaks and moistens the soil. A sudden very heavy rain event would result in the rain all running off the dry sun baked ground and causing more trouble than good. Take it from someone who has been experiencing an 11 year drought and not just some short blip on the rainfall averages.

Steve

[JPmia]

This drought is becoming more serious by the week. See article below. Since this will probably be a historic drought, I wonder what the hurricane landfall frequency is when we have historic droughts in South/Central Florida. Any thoughts on that?

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... 7565.story

[JonathanBelles]

I think mother nature will level us out.

[DanKellFla]

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.

[boca]

Besides tropical activity producing rain for Florida, here's a twist, when was the last time Florida had a normal thunderstorm season and this is more for Central and Southern Florida? Its been years.

[xraymike1]

I remember in either 1969 or 70, we had a severe drought in south florida, there was a story from University of Florida stating that there should be no more people more to south florida as there was not enough fresh water for them. How many thousands of residents have moved here since then? We have dried the wetlands out and when it does rain it falls on asphalt and then into storm drains to runoff into the ocean. Now there is talk of year round water restriction on the east coast, but wasn't just a few months ago that water was being released from Lake Ockeechobee to the detriment of the St. Lucie Estuary. We can't reverse time but we can make better choices.

Also aren't we in the start of a La Nina peroid?

[gatorcane]

It may be dry now but its only April. Just wait until the rainy season kicks in around June. We should get more than enough rain as we typically do here in South Florida.