Florida SE Rainy Season 2018

[Matthew92 1,152]

Just thought I'd create a thread for anyone who wants to share their rainfall situation this season. I had FL mainly in mind, but if anyone from the Southeast or even somewhere else wants to share that's fine too.

I just got a strong pop up storm that wasn't weakening or only sideswiping my location (which most of them have been so far). I love it. Classic summer storm: got a little of everything: wind, lightning, about 1.3 inches of rain. I wouldn't want to live somewhere that doesn't get storms like this.

[PalmatierMeg 7,420]

Nearly 15" in May, 3.5" so far in June.

[kinzyjr 5,607]

We didn't just set a record in May, we smashed it.  17.86" according to News Channel 8, 19.19" according to weather.gov.  The other link is to our local paper days before the record was surpassed.

http://www.wfla.com/weather/may-rainfall-records-shattered-in-some-tampa-bay-areas/1211032086

https://www.weather.gov/media/tbw/topnews/May_Spring2018_final.pdf

http://www.theledger.com/news/20180530/17-days-of-downpours-may-2018-setting-rainfall-record-in-lakeland

June so far 1.62" according to weather.com

[Matthew92 1,152]

That's impressive kinzyjr! Interestingly, when I've checked the radar statewide the last few days, it seems like there hasn't been much widespread daytime t-storm development over the peninsula. I wonder why.

I've been getting a thunderstorm every day (each one bringing at least an inch of rain) since my original post. And last night I got one in the middle of the night with some close lightning. Nighttime convective storms are somewhat rare here, but the worst lightning storm I've seen came from one back in 2007. It was a single cell that sat stationary over town with extremely close lightning for about 30-45 minutes. Here's a clip I took of one of the bolts from that storm.

 

[mdsonofthesouth 541]

We more than doubled our may average of 4-5in for the month reports are from 9.5-15+. Some parts of the state got more more than double the months rain in a matter of a few hours...AKA Ellicott City got 10in in one short storm while we got 6-8 depending on where in my town. We seemed to have slowed down a hair on the amount of rain the past few days, but have still far surpassed the average 4in for the month of June and that was a week or so ago when that was reported. 

 

Lets just say my hand watering has been put on hold for a while as this red clay aint letting any water go. 

Edited June 14, 2018 by mdsonofthesouth

[PalmatierMeg 7,420]

We had 2" more a couple of nights ago. Had a brief shower earlier today, just enough to ramp up the swelter.

[kinzyjr 5,607]

5 hours ago, Opal92 said:

That's impressive kinzyjr! Interestingly, when I've checked the radar statewide the last few days, it seems like there hasn't been much widespread daytime t-storm development over the peninsula. I wonder why.

I've been getting a thunderstorm every day (each one bringing at least an inch of rain) since my original post. And last night I got one in the middle of the night with some close lightning. Nighttime convective storms are somewhat rare here, but the worst lightning storm I've seen came from one back in 2007. It was a single cell that sat stationary over town with extremely close lightning for about 30-45 minutes. Here's a clip I took of one of the bolts from that storm.

We had a few dry days, but yesterday was a monsoon here starting around 8PM.  I'm already hearing thunder outside, so we'll probably get more today.

[kinzyjr 5,607]

Had a pretty nasty one today.  The wind blew so hard it snapped a bambusa oldhamii reed in half.

[PalmatierMeg 7,420]

After the 2" on June 14 we got nada the rest of June which balances out the rainfall bonanza in May and put us behind for the year. Daylong scorching sun and no rain relief is a real garden buzzkill. I had to go back to handwatering to help tender stuff survive. So far through July 3 we've had nearly 3" with more expected today.

[Moose 1,503]

Been raining almost daily here. Grass is growing way too much out on my swale, can't go longer than a week to mow. Grows at least one inch per day, and I don't fertilize it.

[kinzyjr 5,607]

22 minutes ago, Moose said:

Been raining almost daily here. Grass is growing way too much out on my swale, can't go longer than a week to mow. Grows at least one inch per day, and I don't fertilize it.

I'm in the same boat.  If I actually mowed my grass each time it needed it, I would mow every 3 days.

[Moose 1,503]

I got to hit the window when the overnight dew evaporates and the rain starts. I use a mulching mower that clogs easily when the grass is wet

BBQ'd yesterday, fed about 150 people, under a pop up shade, heat and humidity was brutal, working the grill 4.5 hours

 

[cm05 297]

Only 1.41” here over the last 30 days, most of it falling on a single day and quickly evaporating. I’ve been hand-watering everything in clay pots nonstop, plastic pots every 2-3 days.  All this humidity (dew points near 80) has produced very little, if any rainfall.

It got up to 99 degrees the other day with a heat index of 115, hot enough to wake my stubborn Sabal “Louisiana” out of its slumber, while drying the tips of my (formerly 100% green) Licuala grandis which is in bright shade. We need a day of drenching rains.

[PalmatierMeg 7,420]

Got another 3.3" yesterday - July total up to nearly 5.5". That's half the average monthly total for July in 4 days. I just hope we don't spiral into another mini-drought. At least the rain clouds aren't bypassing me to go inland like they do early in rainy season.

[kinzyjr 5,607]

10 hours ago, Moose said:

I got to hit the window when the overnight dew evaporates and the rain starts. I use a mulching mower that clogs easily when the grass is wet

BBQ'd yesterday, fed about 150 people, under a pop up shade, heat and humidity was brutal, working the grill 4.5 hours

 

The sweet spot in that window is to be parking the mower when the first drop of rain hits the driveway.   Standing next to a grill for almost 5 hours yesterday... I tip my cap to you, sir!

5 hours ago, cm05 said:

Only 1.41” here over the last 30 days, most of it falling on a single day and quickly evaporating. I’ve been hand-watering everything in clay pots nonstop, plastic pots every 2-3 days.  All this humidity (dew points near 80) has produced very little, if any rainfall.

It got up to 99 degrees the other day with a heat index of 115, hot enough to wake my stubborn Sabal “Louisiana” out of its slumber, while drying the tips of my (formerly 100% green) Licuala grandis which is in bright shade. We need a day of drenching rains.

That's pretty darn hot that far north.  Imagine pulling weeds and mowing the yard in this:

 

[pj_orlando_z9b 1,230]

After 3" additional this week, I'm closing in on 30" of rain since May 1 south Orlando. Soil temp is 86, avg air temp 93/75, and dewpoints hanging around 77. While the plants are in hulk mode, so are the mosquitos!

[PalmatierMeg 7,420]

Having a mini-drought here on the Isabel Canal. Chances of rain most of the week have been ~20%. Any rain clouds have headed inland. Heat and humidity haven't budged an inch. And the sun sucks up all lingering moisture quickly. I will probably have to hand water the container gardens and jungle as we don't get irrigation again till midnight Sunday. However, forecasted rain chances are up to 60% starting Sat. and through next week. We'll see.

[kinzyjr 5,607]

Still getting rain almost daily.  The Jamaican Talls are just loving this.  One good side effect of it being overcast so much during the day is the high temperature staying at or below 90F.

[Dave-Vero 675]

The mini drought is broken, at least for now.  The clouds are indeed a blessing.

 

[kinzyjr 5,607]

We set another record this year, and not by a small margin.  We've had 54.37 inches so far this year vs. 47.51 inches for the previous record for end of July rainfall set in 1959:

http://www.theledger.com/news/20180731/rainfall-sets-half-year-record-in-lakeland

[pj_orlando_z9b 1,230]

First day of fall this week. I guess Florida doesn't play by the rules. Pretty steamy at 11 PM even by our standards. A guy a mile from me has a soil thermometer and it is currently 87F. Optimal for tropical plant growth. 

[Estlander 607]

2 hours ago, pj_orlando_z9b said:

First day of fall this week. I guess Florida doesn't play by the rules. Pretty steamy at 11 PM even by our standards. A guy a mile from me has a soil thermometer and it is currently 87F. Optimal for tropical plant growth. 

Same in northwest FL at 12.25 am. 

Edited September 15, 2018 by Estlander

[kinzyjr 5,607]

Some days you find one little dot on the radar map and realize "That's where I live!"  Truly the definition of "isolated T-Storms"

 

[PalmatierMeg 7,420]

Got almost 2" of rain in two storms just this week. Temps still above average but I know eventually arctic cold will lower the boom to balance that out.

[kinzyjr 5,607]

Looks like most of Central Florida ended up with close to 60 inches of rain this year.  We fell a little short of the record in 2004 according to these stats, but that's not surprising considering we had 3 major hurricanes that year:

https://www.theledger.com/news/20190104/rainfall-total-for-2018-highest-of-decade-in-polk