Florida parched as extreme drought grows across state
Parts of Florida are enduring a historic rainfall deficit in recent months
The worst drought in more than a decade continues to grow across Florida as some major cities endure some of their biggest-ever rainfall deficits.
Almost the entire state had fallen into a drought by the middle of February, with nearly half of Florida experiencing extreme drought conditions.
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Despite its nickname, the Sunshine State is reliably one of the wettest regions of the continent, typically racking up significant rainfall totals throughout the year.
The latest update of the United States Drought Monitor found that almost 99 per cent of Florida was mired in a moderate drought or worse.
More than three-quarters of the state’s drought was considered severe or extreme, reflecting the serious lack of rain in recent months.
This is up considerably from just three months ago, and it’s a complete turnaround from conditions across the region this time last year.
Multiple cities across the state are running three-digit rainfall deficits since the beginning of September.
Tampa has only seen 133.4 mm of rain over the past five-and-a-half months, which is far below the 406.1 mm they’d expect to see over the same period. This is the least rain Tampa has measured during this stretch since records began in the late 1890s.
Tallahassee, the state’s capital, would normally measure around 543.5 mm of rain between Sep. 1 and Feb. 13. Instead, they’ve picked up just 210.8 mm of rainfall, which is only 38 per cent of normal, and the second-lowest value since records began here in the early 1890s.
Not much relief in the forecast
The next opportunity for rain across Florida arrives on Sunday as a low-pressure system brings a risk for severe thunderstorms to the northern part of the state. However, it’s not likely that the downpours will put much of a dent in the deficits.
Looking ahead, long-range forecasts from the U.S. Climate Prediction Center show increased odds of below-normal rainfall into the spring months.
Header image created using graphics and imagery from NASA and Canva.