A mere 24 hours ago, this map was a bright red nearly statewide. Widespread talk of drought relief and an early start to the "rainy season" was on local TV. Blah blah blah. I never bought into the garbage the CPC and WPC put out almost constantly. Today's map confirms that my skepticism was valid. The latest map now reflects reality. I'm convinced we'll still have a drought in portions of Florida once another disappointing rainy season makes a quiet exit.

The month of May finished with ~3.5 inches of rain, slightly lower than average. Disappointing, but not unexpected. The average for June is ~8.7 inches here. We got ~ 0.5 in. yesterday. Thankful for that much at least, as the last few days have been cloudy all day with no payoff.

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The weather forecast for my region has followed the same general pattern for the last four years:

• 48 hours out: 90% chance of rain

• 24 hours out: 50% chance of rain

• Daily: Rain expected to start in 2 hours.

• Daily - 2 hours later: Rain possible this afternoon.

• Daily - late afternoon version 1: Rain possible tomorrow.

• Daily - late afternoon version 2: Rain expected to stop in the at _______ (fill in blank with time half hour later)

  • NOTE: It never started raining. Let me know when it starts and I'll worry about when it stops after that.

If it does break character and rain, then we usually get multiple inches of rain in one go and then it doesn't rain again for 2-4 weeks - unless we have a CFPACS meeting 🤣 . During the no rain stretch, it's unbearably hot (97F-103F, with humidity >= 80%) because we have horizon-to-horizon sun and no cool down from our formerly daily showers.

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Anyway, hope the drought really does break this year. We could use it for all of the stuff recovering from February's visit from old man winter.

May here was about a 30% deficit from average, but even that was enough to help with the drought a little and made a noticeable difference. It continues to cloud up and look like rain a lot of days, with mostly a light sprinkle here and there. The predicted big rain event of the past week turned out to be a big nothing burger.

they have been calling for some rain for days. A lot of nothing has materialized. At least the clouds are reducing the solar heating of my palms. We have had some rain the past few weeks and while the palms and grass look happier, the ponds and canals are still very low.

No change locally. We have a west wind taking much needed rain inland and to the other coast. The next 7 days look the same.

Glorious

The rainy season is DOA locally. For the next week, we have the west wind pushing rain away.

So this has seemed to persist for multiple years now. Do you (palmtalk experts) think this is a permanent shift?

On 6/11/2026 at 7:21 PM, ruskinPalms said:

So this has seemed to persist for multiple years now. Do you (palmtalk experts) think this is a permanent shift?

That's a good question. It certainly has persisted longer than I would have expected. That said, at least I've seen some form of precipitation each of the last 3 days. There's room for more, though.

For the west coast of Florida, this drought is unbreakable.

yeah had it rain a couple time 4-5 days ago, nothing since and its HOT. 1 time a week irrigation restrictions are causing burns for the more sun exposed water lovers. Glad I put down a ton(2000lbs) of turface MVP a few years back now. Most definitely helps in water retention in sandy soil.

52 minutes ago, sonoranfans said:

yeah had it rain a couple time 4-5 days ago, nothing since and its HOT. 1 time a week irrigation restrictions are causing burns for the more sun exposed water lovers. Glad I put down a ton(2000lbs) of turface MVP a few years back now. Most definitely helps in water retention in sandy soil.

I haven't had measurable rain in 4 weeks. Before that 15 minute shower, it's another 2 months to the previous rain. By this Thursday or next, the drought map will show my area in the burgundy shade. The pattern we're in resembles summer of 2023. You would think it can't get much worse but reality is it probably will.

".......The best shot to see some rain for the west coast will be on Friday as the upper level flow switches more southeasterly for one day. However, this is short lived as winds shift southwesterly once again for the weekend."

My total at the midpoint of June 2026 is ~4in. Crossing my fingers for a more typical June with close to 9 in. of rain.

Had nearly three inches of rain here yesterday (over about 2 hours) and yet had to water twice a day over the past weekend because of how dry and hot it was. A few potted Sabals were even drying out, twisting and shriveling due to the heat.

Ryan

5 hours ago, Palmarum said:

Had nearly three inches of rain here yesterday (over about 2 hours) and yet had to water twice a day over the past weekend because of how dry and hot it was. A few potted Sabals were even drying out, twisting and shriveling due to the heat.

Ryan

The last 4 summers have been awful in regard to the hot and dry weather.

We had a record hot spring with roughly half our normal rainfall.

The PDF from NWS is attached to the post if anyone wants it.

On 6/15/2026 at 12:21 PM, sonoranfans said:

yeah had it rain a couple time 4-5 days ago, nothing since and its HOT. 1 time a week irrigation restrictions are causing burns for the more sun exposed water lovers. Glad I put down a ton(2000lbs) of turface MVP a few years back now. Most definitely helps in water retention in sandy soil.

We got a little over 2 inches in a surprise T-storm today. Did any fall down your way?

20260616_NWS_May_Spring2026_final.pdf

Smoke from the fires really bad today. That eerie orange sky plus the smoke, severe heat warning, haze, and high humidity makes it seem post-apocalyptic out there.

Ryan

I miss rainy season. I too hope this isnt the new normal, but have seen climate projections suggesting we will get closer to an arid Cuba climate in the future. It seems like we cant win, either la nina brings freezes and dry winters, or el nino brings hot dry summers (at least early) and wetter winters that are less useful for the garden. Gardening anywhere has challenges, but it seems like Florida hates us on the west coast again this year. Up to 7 days this summer at 80 for the low temp and upper 90s mulitple times, both more than typical for here. After 12 freezes this past winter, and the heat now, Florida is making the case for desert style landscapes in the future. Im going that route anyway for much of my front yard, outside natives that hopefully do well.

1 hour ago, flplantguy said:

I miss rainy season. I too hope this isnt the new normal, but have seen climate projections suggesting we will get closer to an arid Cuba climate in the future. It seems like we cant win, either la nina brings freezes and dry winters, or el nino brings hot dry summers (at least early) and wetter winters that are less useful for the garden. Gardening anywhere has challenges, but it seems like Florida hates us on the west coast again this year. Up to 7 days this summer at 80 for the low temp and upper 90s mulitple times, both more than typical for here. After 12 freezes this past winter, and the heat now, Florida is making the case for desert style landscapes in the future. Im going that route anyway for much of my front yard, outside natives that hopefully do well.

Yep. It seems we get all years worth of rain in August and September

Just another day in the desert.