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Early Start to the Rainy Season?


kinzyjr

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There was a significant downpour here yesterday, and weather.com reports 0.37 inches of rain.  Some of my potted plants were drenched and it was raining when I got home again today.  At least we won't have to deal with as bad a drought as we had last year at this time.

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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It does seem like the rainy season has started early. I'm just inside the sea breeze area so no rain here, but there's been a lot of rain just east in places like Brandon.

Edited by RedRabbit

Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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@RedRabbitI'm surprised you didn't get any.  I was riding down I-4 after a meetup with @Chatta and it was like one of our summer monsoons.  Do you typically get less rain in a year than our usual "Central Florida 50 (inches)"

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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I got poured on Saturday afternoon and Sunday night. Nothing since then, though. Just a nice little weather blip, no early rainy season, unfortunately. 

Naples (inland), FL - technically 10a but more like 9b in the winter :hmm:

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Way too early for rainy season down here. April - May will be dry and hot, hot, hot. That means a lot of hand watering in my future. Thank goodness for the Cape's dual water system.

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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4 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Way too early for rainy season down here. April - May will be dry and hot, hot, hot. That means a lot of hand watering in my future. Thank goodness for the Cape's dual water system.

I would love to live in a tropical rainforest like climate where they never get drought periods. I hate long spells of dry, hot weather. Now if I lived in Southern California or Arizona I wouldn't mind it as much since that is normal for there. I just get annoyed here because it rains enough during most of the time, it hurts so much more when it is dry.

In the Southeast, April, May and June can sometimes have an annoying month long period with practically no rain. So far though, we seem to be getting a good rain every 1-2 weeks which is just enough to keep things going well. Long range forecast continues to show periodic rain events at least here in N. Florida. Am hopeful for a continued non-droughty spring.

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I only got a light drizzle. I am not a fan of the dry season... Last April we hit 97F and I swear not a drop of rain

Looking for:  crytostachys hybrids, Pseudophoenix sargentii Leucothrinax morrisii, livingstona canarensis

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12 hours ago, kinzyjr said:

@RedRabbitI'm surprised you didn't get any.  I was riding down I-4 after a meetup with @Chatta and it was like one of our summer monsoons.  Do you typically get less rain in a year than our usual "Central Florida 50 (inches)"

Yeah, parts of Hillsborough County get a bit less than 50". Not great for palms, but it is kind of cool to live just inside the sea breeze boundary because you can often look up at a wall of thunderstorms in the summer. 

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Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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Yeah we have a while to go before the rainy season starts. 

Lived in Cape Coral, Miami, Orlando and St. Petersburg Florida.

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2 hours ago, Opal92 said:

I would love to live in a tropical rainforest like climate where they never get drought periods. I hate long spells of dry, hot weather. Now if I lived in Southern California or Arizona I wouldn't mind it as much since that is normal for there. I just get annoyed here because it rains enough during most of the time, it hurts so much more when it is dry.

Actually, our spring dry season is a time of drought sometimes severe drought.

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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2 hours ago, PalmatierMeg said:

Actually, our spring dry season is a time of drought sometimes severe drought.

Definitely last year falls into that category... :(

 

3 hours ago, RedRabbit said:

Yeah, parts of Hillsborough County get a bit less than 50". Not great for palms, but it is kind of cool to live just inside the sea breeze boundary because you can often look up at a wall of thunderstorms in the summer. 

That's interesting.  I had assumed that everyone closer to the coast got more rain than here, but not so...

3 hours ago, Chatta said:

I only got a light drizzle. I am not a fan of the dry season... Last April we hit 97F and I swear not a drop of rain

I don't think we had any meaningful rainfall here from November through May last year.  One of the driest stretches since I've been here.

 

On a good note, right now I have 2 days in the 10 day forecast with a 50% or greater chance of rain.  Definitely helps alleviate the hand-watering for thirsty plants.

  • Upvote 1

Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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No problems with rain here in the Florida panhandle with Pensacola being the rainiest city in FL and Crestview a close second. 

It rained here this morning for a few hours with 90% chance of rain again for Saturday and Monday. 

As Opal said, you can pretty much count on getting some rain if not once a week, then at least once during a two week period

 

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1 hour ago, kinzyjr said:

That's interesting.  I had assumed that everyone closer to the coast got more rain than here, but not so...

Precipitation varies quite a bit. 

fig6x.gif

  • Upvote 2

Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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  Would also agree that you guys aren't quite there yet as far as getting the rainy season started.. on the other hand, its good to see ( and hear) that things aren't quite as dry back there this year compared to last year. Hot and dry there can be almost as sweltering as things can get here, with the addition of humidity, that won't rain, there of course. Here, April, May and June (especially) are full on blast furnace and many eyes gazing towards Mexico, or the mountains.. looking for that first build up that might signal the first hint of a pattern change in the future.
  As far as the pre- season show, yea, I also noticed that areas away from the coast could get teased a bit more than back at the house, roughly less than 5 miles or so from Bradenton Beach. At that time, I worked out by Lakewood Ranch and would watch some pretty nasty looking storms move in from points east as I was leaving work. By the time I got closer to downtown Bradenton, those storms were shredded and just a few sprinkles. Even once rainy season kicked in.. not to repeat myself for the xxx-teenth time, we'd miss out on a lot of the punchy storms that would lurk behind me as I drove home from work in Sarasota. Then again, there were times the sea breeze would sit overhead and provide a good light show and that puts you to sleep sound of rain on the roof while everyone else around us got nothing. Observing the ins and outs of the sea breeze life cycle is an interesting lesson. 

When I lived in Largo, it was often the reverse.. if I saw a wall of storms across the bay, I knew I was next. The best was taking a quick nap and awakening to find that not only was water creeping into my courtyard, but that the entire parking lot on my side of the Apartment complex was under roughly 18" of water. 
 
Having lived in pretty much every area of the country that really experiences summer storms, Florida's are as distinct a character any of the others, though a land locked state easily tops that list. 

On a related note, the first, preliminary look at this years upcoming Hurricane season is supposed to be released tomorrow, ok, sometime today. Should be interesting. 

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This article just popped up on my Facebook. It says in 1998 the wet season in FL didn't start till July, the latest ever.

Very good article on the 1998 "Florida Firestorm" with a lot of pictures and some video- as well as an analysis of this year so far in terms of hydrology.

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/2018/04/04/firestorm-1998-wildfires-ravaged-florida-20-years-ago-burning-half-million-acres/466007002/

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I think Florida is just following the normal subtropical pattern you see elsewhere in the world, where the summer is the wet season, and the rest of the year is bone dry. The US has the only subtropical climates where heavy rain can happen throughout the year (i.e. at the Northern Gulf Coast from Louisiana to FL Panhandle).

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The dryness outside of summer is actually the one thing I've never figured out about Florida's climate. How that plays out with all that surrounding water is such a mystery to me.

What I mean is that if you look at northern Gulf areas like New Orleans, and Mobile, you find that they can get quite the heavy rainfall periods in from time to time during winter/spring. Yet these heavy rains suddenly become much rarer in Florida as soon as you leave the Panhandle. Even if you look at Jax compared to the Panhandle, Jax doesn't have high rainfall outside of summer.

 

 

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I was rushing around hand watering this morning before work, and stubbed my pinky toe on the sharp corner of a concrete paver! :rant: It was not a pretty sight and I hope I don't lose that nail. :crying: 

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Naples (inland), FL - technically 10a but more like 9b in the winter :hmm:

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We are -5.14 inches short for my area for 2018 based on historical averages. Got on decent wetting recently that perked things up. Having a well established garden, my palms do not get supplemental irrigation. Nothing in pots except a few cycads

Coral Gables, FL 8 miles North of Fairchild USDA Zone 10B

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On 4/6/2018, 9:14:19, AnTonY said:

@Missi, ouch, sorry to hear that. Hope it gets better. 

:blush: Thank you! At this point, I think the nail will actually stay! ^_^

Naples (inland), FL - technically 10a but more like 9b in the winter :hmm:

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So far this week I have five 5 gallon bucket of rainwater all filled to the top. In a month or so the dry season starts here and I use the rainwater to water my potted plants which some of them can't take chlorine otherwise they get burnt tips. Some seeds germinate much faster with rainwater than tap.  Mid May is when I have to start watering every week with the hose. 

Edited by Palm crazy
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6 hours ago, Missi said:

:blush: Thank you! At this point, I think the nail will actually stay! ^_^

Hope the nail heals quickly.  Nothing like "war wounds" from gardening...

 

1 hour ago, Palm crazy said:

So far this week I have five 5 gallon bucket of rainwater all filled to the top. In a month or so the dry season starts here and I use the rainwater to water my potted plants which some of them can't take chlorine otherwise they get burnt tips. Some seeds germinate much faster with rainwater than tap.  Mid May is when I have to start watering every week with the hose. 

3 straight days of rain, although last evening was just a misting.  Today was a good drenching.  Much better than last spring for sure.  It was bone dry last year until June.

  • Upvote 1

Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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Our much ballyhooed rain event last night yielded 0.05" in the rain gauge. No rainy season here for weeks to come and the sun is searing. The FL east coast receives much more rain than the west - rainy season here lasts ~4.5 to 5 months vs. a 7+ month dry season. It starts inland then slowly moves toward the coast as days/weeks go by. My boss always told me we couldn't count on reliable rains until mid-June. He was right.

Meg

Palms of Victory I shall wear

Cape Coral (It's Just Paradise)
Florida
Zone 10A on the Isabelle Canal
Elevation: 15 feet

I'd like to be under the sea in an octopus' garden in the shade.

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@PalmatierMeg

On the brightside, the dryness in Florida strikes at a time of year when the sun/temperatures are lower. Same can't be said for many areas of Texas, where the (relative) dryness is in summer. You know, when things are hottest.

Edited by AnTonY
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Weather.com had an article regarding our rainy season: https://weather.com/news/news/2018-04-11-florida-urban-wet-seasons-shorter

The short version is that our rainy season has gotten a week shorter, on average, since the 1940's.  Rainfall totals have remained constant, but the same amount of rain in a shorter time period might lead to more run-off.

Hasn't had any significant impact on my location, but since it was related to the topic at hand, I decided to share it here.

  • Upvote 1

Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ughhh... here we go. It's been a week since a somewhat disappointing .46 inch rainfall (heavier storms skipped around me and areas close by got well over an inch). There was somewhat of a chance of rain on Tuesday, but as has happened many times in the past, it fizzled as it moved east into the stable, dry air over my area. Haven't got nada since. Hot, blazing sun, windy, extremely low humidity (32% right now) with temps into the 80's during the day (getting close to 90 already right now) is drying things out like heck. I hate this so much. And now for the nail in the coffin:

5ae6122b4f56d_Screenshot(55).thumb.png.8

(I think they have the high temps lower than what I'm reading because the data for this site is based on a more coastal influence- I am just inland enough I don't get any of that)

In the future if I lived here, I would have a greenhouse/shadehouse structure with built in irrigation for all my seedlings, and then of course drip or other irrigation for everything else I can have automatic or turn on with just the push of a button. I hate hand watering more and more each year.

I also would have enough trees to not allow a bunch of open areas that become extremely hot in the sun.

I work as a waterer at one of the big box store's garden center. We have automatic sprinklers which gets the majority of things, and I water the rest. During typical times when we will have a rain once a week or half week, things are bearable and I can water all the dry spots within my shift. But lately, it is so blazing hot that even areas that are receiving irrigation dry out by 1-2 o'clock in the afternoon and start wilting- it's getting to the point where I have to leave for the day and a few things are still wilting that I had no time to get too. Ughhh...

 

Edited by Opal92
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@Opal92 We've had a few days down here where the storms that were supposed to drench us fizzled out.  I guess the good news is that June is around the corner, but May looks to be a long one.  I have a few new plantings that I've been hand-watering.  Looking like a bone-dry 10 days here too:

 

201804292115_Weather.png

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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On 4/29/2018, 9:16:33, kinzyjr said:

@Opal92 We've had a few days down here where the storms that were supposed to drench us fizzled out.  I guess the good news is that June is around the corner, but May looks to be a long one.  I have a few new plantings that I've been hand-watering.  Looking like a bone-dry 10 days here too:

A few days ago, it looked all doom and gloom as far as rain went, but we've had sprinkles throughout the day and now at night a good soaking rain has been over top of us for an hour, with more to come.

201805052315_Rain.png

  • Upvote 4

Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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18 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

A few days ago, it looked all doom and gloom as far as rain went, but we've had sprinkles throughout the day and now at night a good soaking rain has been over top of us for an hour, with more to come.

201805052315_Rain.png

Glad you managed to get some rain. Hoping we'll get some rain tomorrow morning here, we're starting to really need it at this point. 

  • Upvote 1

Westchase | 9b 10a  ◆  Nokomis | 10a  ◆  St. Petersburg | 10a 10b 

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Thank you, @RedRabbit.  I was assuming it would be a little more widespread than basically a20-25 mile circle using Bartow as the midpoint.  This will help out with the new podocarpus I put in today.

  • Upvote 2

Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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My lake has not receded quite what I expected this year but I suppose the dry season isn't over yet... I went to the swamp down the street from my house and the water level there is probably the lowest i've ever seen it. 
Got an ok rain yesterday, struggling to keep everything wet here though!! 

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Looking for:  crytostachys hybrids, Pseudophoenix sargentii Leucothrinax morrisii, livingstona canarensis

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It looks like my area will see some rain in the coming weeks if the forecast holds up:

201805102310_Rain.png

  • Upvote 2

Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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Officially been 3 weeks without rain in my area. 97 degrees according to my weather station right now- dry, baking heat like an oven. Thank the heavens we are going to get in a rainy pattern this week.

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I was beginning to have my doubts since I got so little rain yesterday.  Today, it was humid but overcast like yesterday, but not raining.  At 3:25PM, almost on the button, the sky fell out and we started having a heavy downpour.  No handwatering today :)

Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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Last couple hours I have received .83" and more is coming! So it does look like a early start of the rainy season!

Lived in Cape Coral, Miami, Orlando and St. Petersburg Florida.

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1 hour ago, kinzyjr said:

I was beginning to have my doubts since I got so little rain yesterday.  Today, it was humid but overcast like yesterday, but not raining.  At 3:25PM, almost on the button, the sky fell out and we started having a heavy downpour.  No handwatering today :)

Nice. 

I wasn't expecting this, but after the thermometer read 99 deg, little pop up storms starting erupting all over the area. About 3 times it looked like I would get one, but they either fizzled or skipped and dodged around me. Locations literally within 5 miles of me got some of it. And now it looks like the window for my location to get a storm might be over. grrrr.......

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1 hour ago, Opal92 said:

Nice. 

I wasn't expecting this, but after the thermometer read 99 deg, little pop up storms starting erupting all over the area. About 3 times it looked like I would get one, but they either fizzled or skipped and dodged around me. Locations literally within 5 miles of me got some of it. And now it looks like the window for my location to get a storm might be over. grrrr.......

Well, I am very grateful and surprised one hit me in the end. It is moving southwest (which is unusual). This storm is currently weakening as it's hitting my location, but I am so glad for anything. .22 inches so far.

And on the subject of the original intent of this thread- this is quite an early start to a rainy pattern like this in Northwest FL. I remember last year, it wasn't until close to mid-June if I remember right. Another year (2008 or 2009 I think) we went the entire month of June without rain. That wasn't fun.

5af8c78097254_Screenshot(57).thumb.png.b

 

Edited by Opal92
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@Opal92 Glad you finally got some of that infamous liquid sunshine. :)

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Lakeland, FL

USDA Zone 1990: 9a  2012: 9b  2023: 10a | Sunset Zone: 26 | Record Low: 20F/-6.67C (Jan. 1985, Dec.1962) | Record Low USDA Zone: 9a

30-Year Avg. Low: 30F | 30-year Min: 24F

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I didn't get much rain but its been lightly drizziling off and on the past 2 days. Im crossing my fingers for an early start to the season! Jus planted some big palms!

Looking for:  crytostachys hybrids, Pseudophoenix sargentii Leucothrinax morrisii, livingstona canarensis

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