For the first time since mid-April, there is no area of extreme drought anywhere in Florida. This week’s update to Florida’s drought status is the first in months where there was 0.0% of Florida in the “extreme” category. Drier than normal conditions earlier this spring increased the area of Florida in extreme drought to over 25% of the total area of Florida in the May 6th update. The driest areas of the state were observed in south Florida, where the extreme drought area extended from coast to coast from Fort Myers to West Palm and northward into central Florida. In early May, only about 3% of the state was not in some level of drought.
The return to wetter conditions in recent weeks is due to a couple different factors. Rains increased state-wide due to a slow moving upper level low pressure system that developed in the eastern Gulf of America in May. This upper low was a “cut-off” low, which means it was independent of the jet stream. This low moved slowly from south to north, providing several days of widespread showers with heavy rain. As the upper low moved from the gulf into the Atlantic, there was briefly a concern that the low could become our first tropical system of the year, but it moved inland over the Carolinas before it acquired tropical characteristics with a signature warm-core.
Also in early May, the majority of the Florida panhandle was either abnormally dry or in moderate drought. Drought was eliminated here largely due to stalling cold fronts through May, which enhanced rainfall in the Florida panhandle and South Georgia. As we got later into May, drought relief continued. In later May, Florida weather enters a more tropical mode. In the early summer, rainfall across the state is mainly due to daily sea breeze thunderstorms. These showers are driven by the difference in temperature between the land and the water, with clouds and showers developing in the afternoon hours and continuing into the early evening.