For some, Florida drought is getting very "extreme"

[SubTropicRay]

On 8/23/2025 at 6:56 PM, flplantguy said:

The averages for florida look nice until reality sets in,

Sounds like how I feel about winter temps

[flplantguy]

5 hours ago, HudsonBill said:

Ive gotten over 13 inches in July and im at 9 inches so far in August. It's so wet and nasty it's insane. Yard is flooded killed a few palms mango and avacodo trees are starting to suffer and it won't end. 

That sounds bad, with september forecast to be higher than average too there's nowhere for it to go.  I'm good at my place but the majority of pasco can't handle much more.  If fall gets wetter over time this could be a major issue for all of our gardens, going from bone dry to sopping wet, plus the winter chill and freezes. 

[PalmatierMeg]

In the past 2-3 weeks we received no measurable rain and our drought deficit went  from -12.45" to -15.5". Then last Fri. (08-16-25) rain poured from 9 a.m. to noon. Sat.more rain fell from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Sun, rain fell from morning to mid-afternoon. Over 3 days our rain debt dropped by half. Hallelujah. Now we need more of the same.

The Isabelle Canal is lapping the underside of our dock.

[flplantguy]

34 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

In the past 2-3 weeks we received no measurable rain and our drought deficit went  from -12.45" to -15.5". Then last Fri. (08-16-25) rain poured from 9 a.m. to noon. Sat.more rain fell from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Sun, rain fell from morning to mid-afternoon. Over 3 days our rain debt dropped by half. Hallelujah. Now we need more of the same.

The Isabelle Canal is lapping the underside of our dock.

I hope the front sags south enough you get some of this rain.  Up to 7 inches in the last 5 or 6 days here, if it keeps up there you may wipe the deficit out!  Too bad its not more evenly spread out but even paradise isnt quite perfect.  Ive gone through a lot of peroxide too lol

[sonoranfans]

More rain today, a heavy downpour soaked me when out walking the dog at 7am.  Rain last night too.  The puddles in the yard barely get a chance to drain before we get more rain it seems.  The nearby canal and retention ponds are highest since Debby flooded them last year,  they are about 3-4 foot higher than they were a couple months ago. 

[SubTropicRay]

Rainfall aside for a moment, it's nice NOT to have the burnt orange colors over Florida.  I can't remember the last time this was the case in August.

 

[SubTropicRay]

[SeanK]

Saturday looks like a dry day for most of the SE US. 

 

[sonoranfans]

its been dry for a few  days but its raining good now!

[Looking Glass]

Finally.   This is the first decent heavy rain at the house in months.   I’ll take it.  Even if it’s brief.   

 

[kinzyjr]

The rain in August was a bit infrequent, but the volume was up and we had some surprisingly cool days in the 80s to help out.  It was overall a good month for growth.  We'll need 20 inches of rainfall to hit our average total, but more importantly for growth, hopefully more consistent - like at least every 3-5 days - as the summer winds down.

[SubTropicRay]

Not a drop here thus far in the month of September.  For me, this rainy season would get a C grade if it ended today.

[kinzyjr]

32 minutes ago, SubTropicRay said:

Not a drop here thus far in the month of September.  For me, this rainy season would get a C grade if it ended today.

I recorded ~3/4" of rain here yesterday.  It was raining from Mulberry to Dover on FL-60 yesterday and then it seemed to just stop totally by Valrico.  That area may have gotten some rain later in the day.

Overall grade thus far for my location is a B.  My location is still considered abnormally dry on the map, which is true when you look at the volume of rain.  That said, when it reliably rains every 3-5 days at worst, the lower volume is workable.

The 1998 drought must have been a real show-stopper if it was worse than 2023.  3-4 weeks between rain events with temperatures >= 95F every day was terrible for tropicals.  The Braheas and Livistonas didn't mind it, so henceforth, those are the go-to non-natives here.

Pretty soon, we'll start watching for freeze events instead of rain events.

[5am]

1 hour ago, kinzyjr said:

The Braheas and Livistonas didn't mind it, so henceforth, those are the go-to non-natives here.

I'd be in the garden all day every day if I could, but I'm always thankful for those I know will survive whenever I'm on the road or losing my home life for some deadline. 

[SubTropicRay]

This graphic makes me laugh as it ALWAYS underachieves in my location.

[Looking Glass]

For the past 9 days or so, we went from rain every other afternoon to daily rains.   It looks like this pattern may continue for a while.  Getting that mildew and rot smell at night outside.   Mushrooms popping up in the mulch.  The first real rainy season pattern in a year.  
 

 

[SubTropicRay]

Find the hole in the clouds......hmmm.  Still no measurable rain this month.  There's talk of drier conditions this weekend.  Not sure how that's possible unless they start taking from what's already come down.  In any case, it looks like the rainy season will end a month early this year.  

[flplantguy]

I'm at less than 1 inch for September, with a few decent events this summer to keep the weeds happy but me watering.  Nothing in this last bout but clouds and half an inch of rain, I confirmed my sensor is correct too with a rain gauge I can directly see.  Only above average rainfall the last 3 years has been tropical systems, other than that the amounts are meh mostly.  It's been weird, but a lot of clouds and lighter rains on the edges this year is better than 2023.  My dot on the map will be in the red again this year while inland and south a mile or two is average again. The front is supposed to drop temps but I bet that won't pan out either since they are overly optimistic about all the forecast this year.

[SubTropicRay]

Still waiting for the first measurable September rain here on the 11th day of the month.

[Looking Glass]

58 minutes ago, SubTropicRay said:

Still waiting for the first measurable September rain here on the 11th day of the month.

Daily rain this month has improved here into the “severe drought” range.   Great success!  

[SubTropicRay]

 

[Looking Glass]

Cut the grass just in time for another afternoon downpour.  Where was this in June, July, and August???  The weeds have gone ballistic.  
 

 

[Looking Glass]

10 inches in the past 12 days.   Looks like we might have a dry morning at least.  Maybe I’ll have enough time to swap out the Jeep’s bumper this morning, while staying dry.  12 more inches puts us back to normal for the year.  Still a chance to make it through October.  
 

[Looking Glass]

It was not enough time….   I got soaked.   

[sonoranfans]

we have had two measurable rain events both less than 0.5 inch in sept, seems like its drying out as dew points have dropped into the high 60's last couple days.  The irrigation system is back on 3x a week and my manual rainbird sprinkler has helped with a few of the dry cloudless days.   But the days are shorter and the heat has not hit 90 last 10 days.  Recognizing the end of the wet season is near, I put down 30 lbs of florikan palm special(8-2-12), and I'm in the process of spreading mulch to better trap moisture and heat in the soil as things cool off.  We have had an average to slightly above average year for rain but at least its been consistent over the wet season, not dry for too long before more rain.  After all the hurricane Milton damage from last fall, things are in the process of growing out.     

[sonoranfans]

I had decided to use the rainbird this morning, but last night we got a downpour a little after midnight.  Woke me up with heavy rain on the metal roof 2x.  Yeah a metal roof is a bit louder in rain but this was a downpour sounded like a waterfall.   The weather station in bradenton/sarasota airport says no rain at all.   My kluged rain gage says nearly an inch.  I think we are ahead of that weather station this year in total rainfall.  I got down (75) 2 cu ft bags of mulch last two days, the most work I ever do in my 0.3ac yard.  I had not mulched in a couple years, so I felt I needed to get the mulch down before the weather dries out here.   Glad I used osmotic controlled release fertilizer two days ago, big rains don't wash the nutrients away.  Its been a good growing season for my palms, it  hits the spot after the hurricane damage last fall.

[SubTropicRay]

15 days and still no measurable rainfall since September began.  The rainy season is DEAD and I will be too trying to pay my next water bill

[kinzyjr]

Midway through September, my stations show roughly 1.5in of rain.  The next week or so is supposed to be dry, so this one is probably in the books unless we get slammed with a named storm.

[SubTropicRay]

Blah blah blah.....same s--t different week

.....Saturday morning, an inverted trough sits near the Bahamas while
surface high pressure ridges through the southeast U.S., across
northern Florida and into the northeastern gulf. This pattern will
favor the highest rain chances over the east coast of Florida and
southwest Florida and will remain relatively unchanged into the
first part of next week. Near seasonal temperatures expected through
the period, with upper 80`s to low 90`s expected each afternoon.
Overnight lows will remain in the 60`s and 70`s through the week,
then in the low to mid 70`s over the weekend and into next week.

[SubTropicRay]

 

[SubTropicRay]

The next map will look different in portions of west central Florida.  Tampa's airport is looking at a top 10 driest Septembers on record since 1890.  

[Looking Glass]

12 hours ago, SubTropicRay said:

The next map will look different in portions of west central Florida.  Tampa's airport is looking at a top 10 driest Septembers on record since 1890.  

Moderate drought, bordering on abnormally dry!  

[kinzyjr]

13 hours ago, SubTropicRay said:

The next map will look different in portions of west central Florida.  Tampa's airport is looking at a top 10 driest Septembers on record since 1890.  

Out of the color-coded area, but not sure why.  My rain gauge is under 40" of rain in an area that averages over 55" per year.

 

[flplantguy]

I'm at an inch for September now, only from a lucky random half inch on Monday night.  Not looking like much to come up here either, so record dry for September is pretty accurate for me too. Random bad luck🤷

[Matthew92]

It's becoming torturous here in Western FL Panhandle. Hasn't rained at my location since August 30th. This weird dry air mass like the Saraha desert has hung around much of the time since then. It can't seem to rain in September anymore here. Been like this every fall since 2022. In the period of 2012-2021 there were only 2 years (2013 and 2016) that stick out in my mind where it was severely dry like this.

Many native plants are starting to wilt. Full sized, established landscaping shrubs in places like outlet mall landscaping are severely wilting, and even some trees too. Small trees I've planted in common areas in my neighborhood (the median and other green areas on the side of the road) are hanging on by a thread, and it's a nightmare to keep lugging jugs of water to keep some of the newer ones alive. 

There was a chance of rain yesterday, and there were some storms VERY close, but infuriatingly missed my location. 

Thank goodness there's solid chance of rain this Wed/Thurs (of course nothing is guaranteed and I've been burned too many times to put full faith in it).

[SeanK]

I don't believe these graphics. Lake Lanier is down about a foot and a half since Sept 1st. Our summer turfs are burning up. Problem with southern rain storms is they're very spotty. Rain in one neighborhood, next street over, nothing.

[SubTropicRay]

Synopsis

# of days thus far in September - 24

# of days with rainfall in September - 1

Rainy season?  

[SubTropicRay]

More of the same

[kinzyjr]

Last night around 6pm, it started pouring rain and didn't finish until around midnight.  First time I received multiple inches of rain in one go in a little while.

[SubTropicRay]