Florida Weather; Rainy Season

We're forecast to have a break from rainy season until at least next Friday.  Hot and dry meanwhile.  I found this analysis of the recent rains to be interesting.

Florida weather: 'Hardly ever really normal'

By DINAH VOYLES PULVER 
Environment Writer

The Daytona Beach News Journal

After Tropical Storm Fay dumped dozens of inches of rain in parts of Volusia and Brevard counties last fall, many locals thought they'd never see that much rain again anytime soon. They were wrong.

Just nine months later, rainfall from the unnamed storm May 17-22 broke all kinds of records, making it one of the top rainfall events in Florida history. But it also showed just how quickly the state's dynamic weather can change from one extreme to the other.

"Normal weather in Florida is kind of an abstraction," said Bart Hagemeyer, meteorologist-in-charge of the National Weather Service office in Melbourne. "It's hardly ever really normal."

In a May 14 story about the ongoing drought, the National Weather Service told The News-Journal it didn't expect the summer rainy season to begin for another two weeks. The rain started four days later and hasn't stopped.

Q. So, what the heck happened?

First, a cold front appeared over the weekend, promising to bring "decent rain," Hagemeyer said. At the same time, a low developed over the Bahamas, then drifted north bringing a huge swath of moisture. He said it's like "somebody threw a switch."

The two combined into a perfect recipe for rain -- and lots of it. Winds pushing around the two weather systems created a sort of funnel that poured rain into coastal Florida. Hagemeyer compared it to taking two broad pipes of water and feeding them into one skinnier pipe.

Q. How long did it rain?

At one point, Daytona Beach received 55 consecutive hours of rain. It rained 75 of 76 hours in one stretch and a total of 108 hours over six days.

Once the rain began to fill streams, lakes, ponds and puddles, it created a "big, swampy air system" feeding heavy moisture back into the atmosphere and ushering in the annual rainy season at least a week earlier than expected.

The official monitoring station at Daytona Beach International Airport has only reported one day without rain since May 17.

Q. How much did it rain between May 17 and May 24?

Bunnell, 21.70 inches; Daytona Beach, 20.63; DeLand, 12.8 (average); Deltona, 13.43; Flagler Beach, 21.5; New Smyrna Beach, 19.43; Ormond Beach, 27.92; Palm Coast, 19.5 (average).

Q. How does the rainfall fit into the record books?

At the official recording station at Daytona Beach International Airport, daily rainfall smashed records May 19, 20 and 22. The greatest amount of rain in 24 hours -- 8.09 inches -- fell May 19 and 20.

At a total of 22.22 inches through Friday, Daytona Beach is 19.4 inches above normal for the month and with just two days left in May is within 2.6 inches of breaking the record for the wettest month in recorded history. That record, 24.82 inches, was set in October 1924.

Total rain during the storm passed many state records for rainfall during tropical storms and hurricanes. Only three tropical systems have dumped more water on Florida: Hurricane Easy in 1950 (38.7 inches at Yankeetown); Hurricane Georges in 1998 (38.46 inches at Munson); and an unnamed storm in 1941 (35 inches at Trenton).

Q. How did the rainfall compare to Tropical Storm Fay?

The 27.92 inches in Ormond Beach edged out Fay's maximum in Melbourne by a quarter of an inch. Western Volusia received 5 to 6 inches more rain during Fay. But eastern Volusia and Flagler received far more rain last week. Bunnell received 9.5 inches more, a total of 21.7 inches. New Smyrna Beach received 11.2 inches more, totaling 19.43 inches. At 19.5 inches, Palm Coast received 7.1 inches more rain than during Fay, and Flagler Beach had 14 more inches of rain, totaling 21.5.

Q. Did anything else besides the rain contribute to the massive flooding?

Yes, Hagemeyer said. The wind pushed the ocean up into coastal waterways such as the Halifax River all along coastal Volusia and Flagler counties, especially during high tides, preventing the waterways from helping channel all that stormwater back out into the ocean and sending water levels soaring in area canals.

Q. Could it have been worse?

Yes. An astonishing amount of rain also fell over the ocean, Hagemeyer said. Weather service and local emergency management officials watched and worried, hoping much of the worst rain would stay offshore, and it did.