Southern 2/3rds of Florida no rain

[boca]

I can't remember the last time it rained down here in South Florida.I hope the fire season won't be as bad as 1998. For some reason Broward and Palm Beach County have been ususually dry. It's are dry season ,but no rain is stretching it.

[Scorpion]

I think its been about a month since we've had a good rain. Im welcoming it though, it means theres probably going to be a wetter spring and/or summer.

[Cookiely]

The area that I live normally gets a lot less than what is given at Tampa Int. airport. It's been close to thirty years since its been this dry. WOW.
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
730 PM EST SUN FEB 13 2005

...RATHER DRY PERIOD FOR WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA...

AFTER A VERY WET SUMMER ACROSS MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
FLORIDA, WITH THREE HURRICANES AFFECTING THE AREA IN SIX WEEKS AND
MANY AREAS RECEIVING MORE THAN 150 PERCENT OF THE NORMAL RAIN, THE
FAUCET HAS BEEN TURNED BACK TO JUST A TRICKLE. NOW THIS TIME OF
YEAR IS CONSIDERED THE DRY SEASON WITH THE OCCASIONAL COLD FRONT
MOVING THROUGH BRINGING A CHANCE OF RAIN. HOWEVER, THIS WINTER
SEASON A WEAK EL NINO PATTERN WAS EXPECTED TO BRING SLIGHTLY ABOVE
NORMAL RAINFALL TO WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, BUT INSTEAD
CONDITIONS HAVE GENERALLY BEEN DRIER THAN NORMAL. SINCE NOVEMBER 1,
2004 MOST OF THE AREA HAS SEEN BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL, WITH MUCH OF
THE TAMPA BAY AREA RECEIVING LESS THAN 50 PERCENT OF THE NORMAL
RAINFALL FOR THIS TIME PERIOD. ONLY ON TWO DAYS, DECEMBER 25, 2004
AND JANUARY 14, 2005, DID WIDESPREAD MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL OCCUR
ACROSS THE REGION.

BELOW IS A LIST OF UNOFFICIAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS FOR SOME LOCATIONS IN
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA ALONG WITH THE NORMAL AMOUNT, OR
WHAT IS EXPECTED, AND THE PERCENT OF NORMAL FROM NOVEMBER 1, 2004 TO
FEBRUARY 13, 2005.

NORMAL ACTUAL RAIN
RAINFALL NOV 1 2004- PERCENT
LOCATION NOV 1-FEB 13 FEB 13 2005 OF NORMAL

ST. LEO 10.10 3.51 35%
TAMPA INTERNATIONAL 7.36 2.91 40%
ST. PETE/ALBERT WHITTED 8.68 3.56 41%
WAUCHULA 2 N 7.50 3.53 47%
BROOKSVILLE CHIN HILL 9.54 4.65 48%
PLANT CITY 8.76 4.50 51%
ARCHBOLD BIO STATION 7.38 3.80 52%
CHIEFLAND 5 SE 11.95 6.20 52%
SARASOTA-BRADENTON INT'L 8.91 4.73 53%
TARPON SPRINGS 9.91 5.36 54%
FORT MYERS/PAGE FIELD 6.43 3.52 55%
LAKELAND LINDER ARPT 7.89 5.31 67%
AVON PARK 2 W 7.67 5.56 73%
PARRISH 8.78 6.86 78%
ARCADIA 7.01 5.58 80%
PUNTA GORDA 4 ESE 6.90 5.61 81%
LAKE WALES 7.75 6.99 90%
VENICE 8.03 7.89 98%


HOW DOES THIS DRY PERIOD COMPARE TO OTHER YEARS?

FROM THE TABLE BELOW WE CAN SEE THAT A FEW LOCATIONS ARE RANKED IN
THE TOP TEN DRIEST FOR THIS TIME PERIOD, BUT MOST ARE NO WHERE
CLOSE TO SETTING ANY EXTRAORDINARY RECORDS.

ACTUAL RAIN RANKING/ LEAST AMOUNT OF
NOV 1 2004- YEAR RECORDS RAIN NOV 1-FEB 13
LOCATION FEB 13 2005 BEGAN AND ENDING YEAR

ST. LEO 3.51 T-6TH/1895 2.06/1907
TAMPA INTERNATIONAL 2.91 12TH/1890 1.37/1950
ST. PETE/ALBERT WHITTED 3.56 7TH/1914 1.72/1950
WAUCHULA 2 N 3.53 T-12TH/1933 1.55/1935
BROOKSVILLE CHIN HILL 4.65 18TH/1892 1.24/1957
PLANT CITY 4.50 18TH/1893 1.30/1907
ARCHBOLD BIO STATION 3.80 4TH/1969 0.88/2001
CHIEFLAND 5 SE 6.20 4TH/1956 0.80/1957
SARASOTA-BRADENTON INT'L 4.73 13TH/1948 1.73/1976
TARPON SPRINGS 5.36 23RD/1892 1.86/1939
FORT MYERS/PAGE FIELD 3.52 29TH/1902 0.53/2001
LAKELAND LINDER ARPT 5.31 15TH/1946 2.34/1968
AVON PARK 2 W 5.56 41ST/1892 0.84/1907
PARRISH 6.86 15TH/1948 1.84/1949
ARCADIA 5.58 38TH/1899 1.35/1949
PUNTA GORDA 4 ESE 5.61 15TH/1965 1.09/2001
LAKE WALES 6.99 32ND/1935 1.60/2001
VENICE 7.89 31ST/1955 2.15/1976


WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME RAINFALL AMOUNTS WERE THIS LOW?

AS THE TABLE BELOW INDICATES, MOST LOCATIONS HAVE SEEN LESSER
AMOUNTS OF RAIN DURING THIS SAME TIME PERIOD IN JUST THE LAST FEW
YEARS. HOWEVER, THERE ARE A COUPLE OF SITES AT THE TOP OF THE LIST
THAT HAVEN'T SEEN THIS LITTLE RAIN DURING THIS TIME PERIOD IN OVER
29 YEARS.

ACTUAL RAIN MOST RECENT OCCURRENCE
NOV 1 2004- OF RAINFALL AS LOW OR
LOCATION FEB 13 2005 LOWER THAN THIS SEASON

ST. LEO 3.51 3.45/1957
TAMPA INTERNATIONAL 2.91 1.97/1976
ST. PETE/ALBERT WHITTED 3.56 2.03/1976
WAUCHULA 2 N 3.53 2.24/2001
BROOKSVILLE CHIN HILL 4.65 4.30/1997
PLANT CITY 4.50 4.28/2002
ARCHBOLD BIO STATION 3.80 0.88/2001
CHIEFLAND 5 SE 6.20 6.10/2002
SARASOTA-BRADENTON INT'L 4.73 3.60/2002
TARPON SPRINGS 5.36 4.85/2002
FORT MYERS/PAGE FIELD 3.52 0.53/2001
LAKELAND LINDER ARPT 5.31 4.57/2002
AVON PARK 2 W 5.56 3.67/1994
PARRISH 6.86 2.03/2001
ARCADIA 5.58 4.94/2002
PUNTA GORDA 4 ESE 5.61 1.09/2002
LAKE WALES 6.99 3.46/2002
VENICE 7.89 5.08/2002


THE OUTLOOK FROM THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER FOR THE NEXT COUPLE
OF MONTHS IS FOR NEAR NORMAL RAINFALL ACROSS WEST CENTRAL AND
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. FOR MORE CLIMATE OR PAST WEATHER DATA VISIT OUR
WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW AND CLICK ON THE PAST LOCAL
WEATHER LINK.

[Terry]

Our lake is lower than it was prior to the three hurricanes and one extra huge rain event that passed through Lakeland the last quarter of 2004. Un-darn-real. We need rain.... and we'll probably make up for it with some tropical events this summer.

[Scorpion]

Natures way of uneven balancing .

[frankthetank]

Is it just me, or did Castro set fire to Cuba...j/k..from 2 days ago


It looks really dry across Cuba too???