Florida’s brutal drought worsens
 

With less than 2 inches of rain this year, Orlando is enduring its second driest stretch from Jan. 1 to April 5 since the late 1800s and also its hottest on record for that period.

Central Florida and much of the state’s peninsula are experiencing a widening severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a collaboration of universities and federal environmental agencies.

“When was the last time it rained?” said Fran Boettcher, a master gardener at the Orange County and University of Florida agricultural extension center. “Who can remember?”

In Orlando, the last measurable rain was 25 days ago, when just .15 inches barely wetted the ground, boosting the year’s rain to 1.89 inches, or about as much as a single, typical summer downpour can bring.

The Drought Monitor is updated weekly on Thursday mornings. The newest report shows 55 percent of Florida under severe drought now, up from 20 percent at the start of this year and less than 1 percent last year at this time.

Also on Thursday, Florida’s commissioner of agriculture, Wilton Simpson, warned of a potentially torrid brush and forest fire season in the making from Ocala south across a tinder-dry landscape. His department oversees the Florida Forest Service, the lead agency for wildfire responses.

He urged care with backyard barbecues and watchfulness for arson and lightning strikes. Burn bans have been declared for Brevard, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties.

We are asking everyone to be very vigilant,” Simpson said. “We realize this already has been a very busy season.”

Typically, April is a tough month for lawns and landscaping, as spring brings hotter weather but not much rain. On average, the dry season transitions to the rainy season in Orlando on May 27, or five days before the Atlantic hurricane season begins.

Derrick Weitlich, a lead meteorologist and climate program leader at the National Weather Service in Central Florida, said precipitation across the region so far in 2023 has ranged from 1 to 4 inches, which is as much as 6 inches below normal.

But, with global heating stirring the climate pot, weather has been wickedly fickle during the past half-year.

Hurricane Ian brought widespread flooding and record rainfall to Central Florida in late September.

By early October, the Florida peninsula was entirely drought free, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, while much of the West and especially California were dealing with brutally dry conditions.

With historic amounts of rain and snow this year in California and unrelenting drying out across Florida’s peninsula, the drought map has reversed.

California now has almost no severe drought and nearly all of Florida’s peninsula is swaddled in it.

The Drought Monitor Thursday cited reports in Central Florida of “numerous impacts of very dry conditions in the region including water holes drying up and areas experiencing extremely poor pasture conditions with supplemental feeding necessary to maintain livestock.”

For Central Florida residents watching their lawns broil into brown, Boettcher, the master gardener, suggested it might be time to consider switching to Florida native plants that can shrug off dry spells a lot better than thirsty grass.

“Lawns need a lot of water, fertilizer and pest control,” Boettcher said. “That’s a lot of time and a lot of pocket book.”

I haven't noticed...

It's on the way

We got a nice soaking a couple days ago, with more supposedly on the way in the next week.

California seems to be coming out of its drought. Weather!

California ties 1952 record for all-time Sierra snowpack

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Gee...weather changes, I'm shocked.

the earths magnetic north has shifted 30 miles…causing a delirium of problems.

1. The "US Drought Monitor" is a climate alarmist outlet. Read how it operates. It uses "subjective methods" and "unnamed experts" to create scary maps.
2. Florida's dry season ends in May. Be patient.
3. Golf courses and lawns are NOT part of natural Florida.

I just let the grass grow a little longer, give an extra day’s watering to the bushes - problem seems solved.

Tell me which one of these groups is the alarmist one, or all of them in your humble opinion

The U.S. Drought Monitor is produced through a partnership between the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

There is nothing subjective about their work except the dividing lines which they have derived between categories of severity of drought. And while where to draw a line is subjective, they are totally consistent in their definitions and their data is derived from objective readings confirmed with on site reports.

I see nowhere on their site that they use "unnamed experts" in fact the authors are listed and the sources are listed. And if you find the maps "scary" maybe the drought conditions in those dry areas are "scary" Perhaps you will tell us that the low rainfall in Florida has not produced drought conditions, that there is no increased fire risk and this is all a cabal of "scientists" just looking for fame and fortune at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

While I think your post is interesting, it is a cut and paste of
Florida’s brutal drought worsens; Orlando has hottest start to year on record from the Orlando Sentinel

Please provide a link if you are going to wholesale copy something directly from the web and summarize what you read. From the rules of this road:

The scam is easy to find. Just look under the "Drought intensity categories are based on:" section, on this link ... Drought Classification | U.S. Drought Monitor

"I bless the rains down in... (Toto)" Florida. Bought time we see some :)

FYI: Section 107 of the Copyright Act, which provides that fair use of a work “for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use, scholarship, or research)” is not an infringement of copyright.

Great Opportunity
 

It’s a great time to check all your sprinkler filter heads, go through your system and monitor efficiency. I’m very grateful for a little highlight of dry weather to serve us all better.

This was the grandaddy of all droughts. CO2 around 300 ppm.

WHAT IS DROUGHT
Historical Drought
The 1930s “Dust Bowl” drought remains the most significant drought—meteorological and agricultural—in the United States’ historical record.

Historical Drought | Drought.gov.

Florida's "dry season" runs through May -- this is completely normal. There's nothing unusual about our current conditions -- except for lots of unnatural golf courses and manicured lawns.

Watch out
 

Typically, April is a tough month for lawns and landscaping, as spring brings hotter weather but not much rain. On average, the dry season transitions to the rainy season in Orlando on May 27, or five days before the Atlantic hurricane season begins.

Derrick Weitlich, a lead meteorologist and climate program leader at the National Weather Service in Central Florida, said precipitation across the region so far in 2023 has ranged from 1 to 4 inches, which is as much as 6 inches below normal.

But, with global heating , ( Global Warming) 🤡 stirring the climate pot, weather has been wickedly fickle during the past half-year.

Hurricane Ian brought widespread flooding and record rainfall to Central Florida in late October

With historic amounts of rain and snow this year in California and unrelenting drying out across Florida’s peninsula, the drought map has reversed.
This is called weather!


The Gulf is bubbling right now! Expect numerous storms shortly.
Global heating is recycled Global warming. Hurricanes and drought have been around for a long time.

Average rain and snow is just that , an average of different extremes. Yes it has been dry, yes it does cause stress on everything mentioned.

Do what you can to protect your property investment.

Drought
 

Arrived in August and would pour every day, so gutters were first priority. Call Stipes to install by end of May or beware of flooded lanai.

Thank you!

Over the 65 years of my life living in different parts of the country, been thru excessive droughts, excessive rain periods, excessive snows, little snow. The climate changes yearly, daily, and often. Always has always will. Not concerned one bit when you look at the history of the earth’s climate over thousands of years.

If people only realize that water is only a few feet under their feet.. Learn how to be sovereign.

Really not my point at all. Copyright law allows exactly what you stated. In such a case you should cite the source of what you are using, not present it as your own work. Secondly, this website, TOTV, has its own rule about using copyrighted material which is stricter than the prohibition on general use. There is no question the material you presented as your own was copyrighted. There is no question that you did not excerpt a small part of the work, rather you presented the entire body of someone else's work as your own without any attribution or credit to the real author.
And there is no question that you did not conform to the rules of this website regarding use of copyrighted material even if you may not have violated the Federal laws, which by the way, also say that fair use does not generally mean using the entire article.

From your link:
" If the use includes a large portion of the copyrighted work, fair use is less likely to be found;"

Please tell me what sovereign action we should be considering regarding water use in Florida as individuals. You might have a great solution for each of us to pursue.

Your concerns will allayed starting this week which will usher in the rainy season early.

Yes you can use the entire work. But you still have to cite the source. If it's a paper thing and not an internet link, you have to specify the name of the book/newspaper/magazine, edition, date of copyright.

If you don't, then you're basically equating the article with your own writing, and THAT is copyright infringement.

In addition, bluash quoted the terms of service of THIS website, this forum, that you agree to obey when you sign up for an account:

Plus grass requires cutting and causes thousands of "have not" fast-driving lawn terrorists to invade the "haves" areas and produce class friction - all because overweight Village People are too lazy to cut their own lawns or buy a patio home. It is simple to plant podocarpus and viburnum hedges and use rock gardens and ground cover to reduce the plain, ugly grass to a bare minimum. Thus saving water and preventing the fertilizer runoff that is polluting the lakes of the Villages. This is NOT rocket science, folks - it is basic horticulture. Take a class or read a book and show some individuality. Just because the average, dim-witted Village person is dumb enough to pay for out-of-area MUSCLE to cut their lawns, does NOT mean that YOU have to fall into that TRAP!

Cor D'alaine Idaho would have been a better choice for the summer 6 months.

It is going to CHANGE by having increasing HEAT planet-wide for the next 30 years. I guess some would call that a change???????

# 3 IS true !

Not by a long Global Warming shot!

A warmer planet is a better planet. Maybe, if it gets warm enough, the Vikings will return to Greenland -- which will be more green -- and that's a good thing.

Never trust those Cabal Scientists. Real men disembowel Scientists.

Agree -- that's a short shot. The long shot would be to stop cutting grass altogether -- and return Florida to nature. Florida did just fine for millions of years without sprinkler systems -- or golf courses.

I agree - turn those golf courses into something useful. Even 200 Pickle's ball courts would be preferable. Or maybe a few field archery courses with natural vegetation of course. Think of all the quail and fish that are killed by the UNNATURAL chemicals used to force a golf course to function.....to the detriment of nature.
As an extra special positive result - imagine if an invading foreign army entered the US - would it be better to REPELL them with TRAINED ARCHERS or with TRAINED GOLFERS pelting them with golf balls? Just asking?

Some fantasies are indeed comforting.

Men plugging dikes might have new meaning with the recent law changes in Fl.

A warmer planet will cause flies, mosquitos, mice, and other rodent vermin to carry more deadly diseases to more humans in the now warmer temperate zones where the bulk of the earth's population exists. Be careful what you wish for, it could backfire!

Think outside the box. When the earth warms, populations will move north. Once the Greenland ice melts just think of how many millions of more people can live there. And image of all the coal, oil, and gas just waiting to be mined -- and probably gold & silver and more. Oh -- I am wishing for global warming. No wonder Trump wanted to buy Greenland.