Florida isn’t just dry right now — it’s almost wall-to-wall drought.
As AccuWeather reports, the only pocket of the state not currently in drought is a small coastal strip between Melbourne and Daytona Beach. But even there, conditions have been abnormally dry.
“Nearly 99% of the state is under drought conditions,” says AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson about the most widespread drought on record for February since records began in 2000. The ongoing drought is worse than February 2012 and February 2001 when 89% of Florida was experiencing drought conditions.
“The worst of the drought is ongoing across portions of northeast Florida, including Jacksonville, AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex Duffus said. “The city of Jacksonville has only reported 0.07 of an inch of total precipitation through the month of February, only 2% of the historical average for the month.”
Late winter and early spring are typically among the driest times of the year in Florida. When that seasonal dry stretch collides with an expansive drought, the risk of wildfires can spike before wetter weather returns.
Why is There a Drought?
One of the biggest drivers has been the persistent weather pattern across the United States this winter.
Winds and the storm track have been coming out of the Northwest for much of the season, delivering dry air from the central U.S. and Canada, according to Anderson. That pattern has also limited the flow of moisture and storm systems in from the Gulf and Atlantic. “We’re definitely concerned about the risk for numerous large wildfires across the state through the spring before the rainy season begins,” Anderson added.
When will Rain Return to Improve the Drought?
There’s at least a short-term change on the way this month. “A storm developing across Texas and Oklahoma on Saturday will crawl eastward through the weekend, bringing much needed rain to portions of the Florida Panhandle and central Florida on Saturday,” Duffus said.
At this point any rain would help, but it’s unlikely to erase the drought by itself. Much more precipitation would be needed to make up for the recent dryness. And even after this system moves through, it may be weeks before Florida gets consistent, frequent rain again.
Unfortunately meteorologists are predicting a spring that is drier and warmer than the historical average for most of the state.
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