Summer Rainfall & Significant Weather

Summer (JJA) 2023 was the 64th-wettest summer on record for Florida. In terms of seasonal rainfall, there were clear winners and losers. The map below provides the summer rainfall departures from normal, from June 1 - August 31, which combines CoCoRaHS data with other station network data. Above normal rainfall was observed across the east coast and Big Bend regions. The west central and southwest coasts as well as much of the Panhandle were well below normal, where drought degradation occurred as the summer progressed. High pressure, persistent southwesterly flow, and hot temperatures suppressed sea breeze convection along Florida’s west coast and contributed to below normal rainfall.

Year-to-date rainfall, January - August, is record driest in Naples, Venice, and Tampa, where rainfall deficits are generally between 10 and 20 inches for the year to date. Based on observers' condition monitoring reports for Florida (see graph below), which document on-the-ground changing conditions, late June was the wettest period this summer while increasing dryness was observed in August.

Spring and Summer Extremes Across Florida CoCoRaHS

Between 1 March 2023 and 31 May 2023:

• Highest seasonal rainfall total: 39.55" at Plantation, Broward Co. (BW-76)
• Lowest seasonal rainfall total: 1.94" at Dunedin, Pinellas Co. (PN-91)
• Highest daily rainfall total: 18.16" on April 13, 2023 at Hollywood, Broward Co. (BW-170)

Between 1 June 2023 and 31 August 2023:

• Highest seasonal rainfall total: 40.75" at Plantation, Broward Co. (BW-95)
• Lowest seasonal rainfall total: 9.06" at Key West, Monroe Co. (MN-52)
• Highest daily rainfall total: 11.14" on June 16, 2023 at Pensacola, Escambia Co. (ES-58)

*based on data with at least 90% completeness

Hurricane Idalia Devastates Big Bend Region

Hurricane Idalia formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday, August 27 and became Tropical Storm Idalia later that day. It reached hurricane strength on Tuesday, August 29 and rapidly intensified into a major Category 4 hurricane before landfall with an increase in wind speeds of 55 mph in less than 24 hours. 

Idalia made landfall in the morning of August 30 along the Nature Coast at Keaton Beach as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum wind speeds of 125 mph, becoming the first storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season to directly impact Florida.

Read the Hurricane Idalia preliminary post-storm summary from the Florida Climate Center here.

Observer Comment Corner

Observer comments are encouraged! Thanks to the many who regularly post comments with their reports. Comments provide valuable context to observations, which can be very helpful to those who later use the observations. If nothing else, comments are interesting for us and other observers to read. Here are only a select few of the comments shared during the past few months. We’ll continue to share your comments in these newsletters. 

1. 14 June, Weston 2.8 SE, Broward County (BW-99) - 4.26 inches:

"…Rain was blowing sideways and large mango tree in the backyard had most large, thick upper branches sheared off... Branches fell in several directions with some suspended in other parts of the tree. Harvest was just starting and mangoes were in various stages of ripening. Based on the number collected so far, estimating there were at least 500 mangoes on the at the time, which adds a lot of extra weight. Still collecting more from the downed limbs. (And now I have a lot of mangoes to give away)… Flooding in front of houses (roads, driveways, sidewalk, short lawns) was similar to the worst that I have seen near this location in 9 years. Water reached the garage doors of several houses on the street, some with a debris and water line a few inches high on garage doors. Road was not passible for a few hours. Garbage cans were floating down the street and piling up in places. Drainage was hindered by debris from many small to medium size branches and leaves torn off during the storm."

2. 16 June, Pensacola 1.2 SSW, Escambia County (ES-58) - 11.14 inches: 

"Largest rainfall amount ever collected by station FL-ES-58. Obviously, a highly unusual heavy rainfall event, near continual lightning for hours with numerous close strikes within a few hundred feet of gauge, possibly as near as in ours or a neighbor's yard. No known hail. Houses, structures, and streets do not flood on this city block because of natural ground slope and permeable sandy soils; elevation is also 75 ft ASL. Street curb gutters were like swollen rivers with water extending to within 4 ft of the center crest of the street (highly unusual)." 

3. 20 July, Tampa 5.1 S, Hillsborough County (HB-10):

“NOT A DROP, all the while 96° oppressive "feels like 110°" heat dominated the day and 80° heat dominated the entire night....here at my South Tampa location." 

4. 13 August, Lady Lake 1.2 ESE, Lake County (LK-21):

“August rains have been sparse, 1.02” to date, monthly ave 7.84”.

5. 30 August, Saint James City 0.4 SSE, Lee County (LE-22) - 2.76 inches:

"Mostly cloudy with a strong breeze from the southwest... Rain bands associated with hurricane Idalia started impacting the area late yesterday morning and are still continuing this morning. There was severe road flooding and some water probably entered homes in the area, but the flooding was due to storm surge more so than rain. Of course, there was heavy rain and tropical storm strength winds."

6. 30 August, Ellenton 6.6 E, Manatee County (MA-6):

"Heavy showers and T-storms with occasional Hurricane Idalia feeder bands and wind gusts estimated at 50 mph. Heaviest rain 0.55 inches in 30 minutes, 11:20-11:50PM."

Current Drought Status

A combination of below normal rainfall and extreme heat led to drought development in the Panhandle during August, while Hurricane Idalia led to slight drought improvement along the west central coast. Currently, 0.3% of the state is in extreme drought (D3), 1% is in severe drought (D2), 8% is in moderate drought (D1), and 9% is abnormally dry (D0); 82% of the state is now drought free, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. The most recent Florida drought updates are available here.

El Niño Advisory, Increased Confidence in "Strong" Event

El Niño, the warm phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, continued in the equatorial Pacific Ocean in August and is expected to persist into the Northern Hemisphere 2023-24 winter (now at 95% chance). El Niño conditions in the equatorial Pacific Ocean are expected to strengthen and there is increased confidence in a "strong" El Niño event, reaching or exceeding a temperature anomaly of +1.5°C for the November-January seasonal average in the Niño-3.4 index region. A strong El Niño does not necessarily mean that we will see strong El Niño impacts locally, but it does increase the chances that some level of impacts will occur. Florida winters are typically wetter and cooler during El Niño years.

Seasonal Fall Outlook is Leaning Warmer and Wetter than Normal for Florida

NOAA's Climate Prediction Center anticipates a warmer and wetter than normal fall season on average, September through November, for Florida. Average fall temperatures are leaning above normal, with a 40%-50% chance of above normal temperatures, while precipitation is leaning above normal with a 33%-40% chance of being wetter than normal. Drought removal is expected in Florida.

Observers Can Now Submit Photos with Hail Reports

In case you missed it, CoCoRaHS observers now have the option of submitting photos with hail reports. These photos can be of the actual hail or photos of the hail pad.

Observers can submit photos for any of their old reports, if you have them, and for new reports that you submit. When you complete and submit a hail report, there will be an option to submit it straight from the confirmation page. You will be able to submit up to 4 photos, but only one photo will be displayed with the report. A staff member will review the photos and actually post the photo to the site, so it’s not automatic once the photo is submitted. It may take up to 24-48 hours before photos are posted.

Note that the ability to submit Hail Reports currently exists only on the website, not the mobile app.

Hail Reports with photos will be identified in the List Hail Reports (View Data, Search Hail Reports) with a camera icon.

Click on the icon to view the photo associated with that report in a separate window.

Don't Forget to Submit Condition Monitoring Reports!

Now that the climatological rainy season is winding down and we head into what are typically drier months, condition monitoring reports provide useful information on the effects of drier or wetter than normal conditions on plants, animals, and people.

If you are new to condition monitoring reports, or just need a refresher, view this detailed guide to submitting condition monitoring reports here:

https://media.cocorahs.org/docs/ConditionReportingGuide_2.0C.pdf, as well as this short guide for our region here: https://media.cocorahs.org/docs/CM_Southeast_Regional_Guidance.pdf.

Don't Miss Upcoming CoCoRaHS WeatherTalk Webinars!

These webinars take place bi-monthly as one-hour interactive Webinar sessions featuring engaging experts in the fields of atmospheric science, climatology and other pertinent disciplines. These easy-to-follow presentations are live and the audience is given the chance to submit questions which the experts answer live during the webinar.

Speakers for the fall 2023 through 2024 webinars have been announced. The next talk will be October 5 at 1:00 pm EDT on Atmospheric Rivers by Marty Ralph, Director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes. Register and view recordings of past webinars at: https://www.cocorahs.org/Content.aspx?page=wxtalk.

COCORAHS CELEBRATES 25 YEARS DURING 2023!