All eyes on May
In the early part of May, when the drought was in full swing, all eyes were on June:
It’s not only the first official “full month” of the wet season, but also the rainiest (especially on the southwest coast), and traditionally – also our drought killer.
But an early May 11th start to this year’s rainy season (May 20th is the long-term average) now has everyone thinking in the opposite direction:
Will this be a record flood year instead?
The Upper Kissimmee led the way with over 14 inches for the month.
That’s 11 inches more than the 50-year 3 inch median, and rivals the 50-year record high for June. That’s an unusual soaking by wet season standards, let alone a typically rain-deprived May.
The reality is that it could have easily been more.
The baroclinic low parked a few hundred miles off shore in the Gulf spread most of its rain through central and northeast Florida. It was an atmospheric "flap of the butterfly wings" that those buckets of rains didn’t side step further to the south.
And why is it that “droughts always end in floods?”
That’s not always the case, but it sure seems that way in Florida … every year actually.
The baroclinic low parked a few hundred miles off shore in the Gulf spread most of its rain through central and northeast Florida. It was an atmospheric "flap of the butterfly wings" that those buckets of rains didn’t side step further to the south.
And why is it that “droughts always end in floods?”
That’s not always the case, but it sure seems that way in Florida … every year actually.
6 comments:
Bob, do you think that, after a drought, the ground is just almost too dry to absorb the moisture??? Could that be why there is usually flooding after a drought???? (Oh--what do I know!!!! ha)
Betsy
We've been getting a lot of rain here, too, so maybe our 10 years of drought is over. Sure hope we don't have floods instead.
Good points:
Yes, sometimes that can happen with the "first rain" after a long drought, it takes a few softening up rains to prime the sponge.
And yes, we tend to think about seasons, but long term cycles, as you mention, are just as important, and tend to sneak in under the radar of our short-term consciousness.
We've had a lot of rain in Michigan - but thankfully no floods. At least not that I know of! :)
Hope all this means that Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades is recovering. Got to get those aquifers full also.
Thanks for your comments.
Its true, getting more water back into the Everglades, and getting it flowing, is what the wetland doctor ordered. But that doesn't happen by rain alone: it requires places to store water in the upstream landscape, so it can slow drip south, and also making sure the water quality is right.
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