[Dusty_Star]

& we just may get lots of rain by the end of this week. A bit earlier than predicted.

[midiwiz]

Originally Posted by Boffin

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.”

just wait 5 minutes and it changes. no big deal happens every year.

[Normal]

A lot of people live on or near irrigation reservoirs, (retention ponds) down south. The dynamic visual may contribute to anxiety about no rain, but a quick Internet search will tell you rain comes in May and continues throughout the summer and fall months. The aquifers underground should be spot on for water for this time of year, SO RELAX and ENJOY.

[Causey]

Left New England to escape snow and ice. The plan has come together nicely, the weather has been great. Not even one day of golf lost to rain, this year so far. Love the Florida sunshine.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Normal

A lot of people live on or near irrigation reservoirs, (retention ponds) down south. The dynamic visual may contribute to anxiety about no rain, but a quick Internet search will tell you rain comes in May and continues throughout the summer and fall months. The aquifers underground should be spot on for water for this time of year, SO RELAX and ENJOY.

The ponds in the north are very low as well. That quick search of the internet will also show that our rainfall this year is far below normal. While the heavier rains do start in May and June, we still should get some rain in January through April - more than we have had this year. (Then again, 2022 started slow as well and finished with higher than average rainfall)

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

The ponds in the north are very low as well. That quick search of the internet will also show that our rainfall this year is far below normal. While the heavier rains do start in May and June, we still should get some rain in January through April - more than we have had this year. (Then again, 2022 started slow as well and finished with higher than average rainfall)

A concern about lower rainfall for months: the dirt becomes packed. It can't absorb the rain as quickly as if it was kept somewhat moist throughout. If it's been dry for months and there's suddenly a downpour, it can quickly flood before it can absorb into the ground.

Sort of like a kitchen dish sponge. When they're totally dried out, they don't absorb as efficiently in getting water off the counter. But if you wet them and squeeze them first - they'll get the water up quick in a jiffy.

[Normal]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

The ponds in the north are very low as well. That quick search of the internet will also show that our rainfall this year is far below normal. While the heavier rains do start in May and June, we still should get some rain in January through April - more than we have had this year. (Then again, 2022 started slow as well and finished with higher than average rainfall)

True, but just an anomaly for the weather here.

Year-to-Date Rainfall / Forecasts / Fire Weather / Wildland Fire / Forest & Wildfire / Home - Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services

There are better years for rain and worse. It comes and goes.