Dry and drier

South Florida is dry and getting drier.  The local NWS weather office tells us that we are in:

• SEVERE DROUGHT CONDITIONS CENTRAL MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
• MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS REST OF MIAMI-DADE AND BROWARD COUNTIES.
• THE EASTERN AREAS OF SOUTH FLORIDA ARE IN A MODERATE TO HIGH RISK FOR WILDFIRES 

You have seen the lack of rain and dealt with the stifling heat over the last several weeks. Its been hot and dry even before summer officially started on June 21st.

Since the wet season began in mid May, most of the rain has come down over western areas of South Florida. We've received around 1-3 inches while SW Florida (around Naples) they've seen accumulations of over 4 to 6 inches.

Rain Update:
The National Weather Service provided me the following rain info from January 1st to the present.

• Miami has received a total of 13.60 " of rain. The average is 23.08". This is a deficit of  -9.48"    
• Ft.Lauderdale has registered 14.93" since January 1st, with the average being 25.52". This is a shortfall of  -10.59 .

Miami Dade and Broward counties get most of the drinking water from underground aquifers.

Where do they stand?

• Broward County:  The wells stand at around 10 feet which is near normal
• Miami Dade County: The wells here are at just under 9 feet which is just shy of the normal.

Continued usage will keep draining these reservoirs and without rain to refurbish them we may be in a pickle. You see, if these wells get too low, salty ocean water can penetrate and contaminate them.

We then rely on water from the Everglades or from Lake Okeechobee to pick up the slack, except the Glades are also running drier, and the Lake is only our secondary source of water.  Right now the lake is not too bad standing at a depth of  12.34 feet with the typical depth at 12.91. Last year we were at  13.95 feet. But everyone including agricultural interests use the Lake, so those levels can drop drastically.

Heat:
Its been hot as well with highs in the low 90s and heat index readings, or the feels like temps, well into the 100+ degree range.

Any hope for rain?
We have been kept hot and dry due to a huge dome of high pressure sitting over us. The models indicate the high starting to weaken today and allowing some rain to move in thru Saturday, but as of this moment, that high is not budging. This worries me because if we don't get some rain relief shortly, next week may be even drier.

The long range models suggest the high staying put and we can add to it a plume of Saharan dust coming all the way from Africa that will dry us out even more. AND, this is where it gets dicey, the forecasts are calling for temps next week to reach the mid 90s.


Please remember:

THE SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT HAS KEPT ALL OF SOUTH
FLORIDA IN A YEARLY WATER RESTRICTION...WHICH REDUCES WATER USAGE TO
3 DAYS A WEEK. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE WATER SHORTAGE CONDITIONS
...PLEASE VISIT THE SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT WEB SITE AT
WWW.SFWMD.GOV.