South Florida officially back in drought conditions

The lack of cold fronts, and high pressure anchored over the area has kept the area very dry. Rainfall is running more than 8 inches below normal for West Palm Beach this dry season.

PALM BEACH INTERNATIONAL : 24% of normal: Rainfall Nov-Jan: 2.61 : Departure: (-8.19) : Rainfall last year: 4.44 : Departure: (-7.43)

NAPLES MUNICIPAL AIRPORT : 44% of normal: Rainfall Nov-Jan: 2.18 : Departure: (-2.79) : Rainfall last year: 3.09 : Departure: (-2.54)

FORT LAUDERDALE INTERNATIONAL : 21% of normal: Rainfall Nov-Jan: 1.75 : Departure: (-6.69) : Rainfall last year: 3.93 : Departure: (-5.79)

MIAMI INTERNATIONAL : 43% of normal: Rainfall Nov-Jan: 2.85 : Departure: (-3.80) : Rainfall last year: 6.11 : Departure: (-1.06)

BELLE GLADE : 27% of normal:  Rainfall Nov-Jan: 2.15 : Departure: (-5.74) : Last year: 1.57 : Departure (-7.08)

THIS HAS ALLOWED FOR MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS (D1) TO DEVELOP AROUND THE LAKE OKEECHOBEE AREA AND THE METRO AREAS OF PALM BEACH COUNTY. THE MODERATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS (D1) HAVE ALSO CONTINUED OVER SOUTHERN MIAMI-DADE AND MAINLAND MONROE COUNTIES WHILE REST OF SOUTH FLORIDA REMAINED IN AN ABNORMALLY DRY CONDITIONS (D0).

HYDROLOGICAL IMPACTS... THE WELLS OVER MOST OF SOUTH FLORIDA HAVE CONTINUED TO RUN AT THE LOWEST 10 TO 30 PERCENT OF NORMAL LEVELS WITH A FEW OF THEM IN HENDRY AND INLAND COLLIER COUNTIES RUNNING AT THE LOWEST 10 PERCENT OF NORMAL LEVELS. THE UNDERGROUND WATER RESERVOIRS IN PALM BEACH COUNTY WERE RUNNING AROUND 16.3 FEET WHICH IS 0.2 FEET ABOVE NORMAL. IN BROWARD COUNTY...THESE RESERVOIRS WERE RUNNING AROUND 12.1 FEET WHICH IS NEAR NORMAL. IN MIAMI DADE COUNTY...THE UNDERGROUND WATER RESERVOIRS WERE RUNNING AROUND 10 FEET...WHICH IS 0.3 FEET ABOVE NORMAL. THE LEVEL OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE WAS AROUND 13.34 FEET AS OF JANUARY 26...WHICH WAS ABOUT 1.35 FEET BELOW THE NORMAL LEVEL OF 14.69 FEET. THE LEVEL OF FISHEATING CREEK WAS 1.14 FEET AS OF JANUARY 27...WHICH WAS 1.17 FEET BELOW THE NORMAL LEVEL OF 2.31 FEET FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR.

FIRE DANGER IMPACTS... AS OF JANUARY 26...THE KEETCH-BYRAM DROUGHT INDEX (KBDI) WAS RUNNING BETWEEN 550 AND 600 OVER MOST OF SOUTH FLORIDA...EXCEPT 500 TO 550 IN COLLIER AND MAINLAND MONROE COUNTIES. THIS PUTS ALL OF SOUTH FLORIDA IN A VERY HIGH RISK FOR WILDFIRES...EXCEPT HIGH RISK IN COLLIER AND MAINLAND MONROE COUNTIES.

RESPONSE/ACTIONS... THE SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT HAS KEPT ALL OF SOUTH FLORIDA IN THE YEARLY WATER RESTRICTION...WHICH REDUCES WATER USAGE TO 3 DAYS A WEEK. THEY HAVE ALSO CONTINUED THE WATER SHORTAGE WARNING...WHICH MEANS THAT WATER SHORTAGE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE NEXT 1 TO 3 MONTHS IF THE LACK OF RAINFALL CONTINUES OVER SOUTH FLORIDA. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE WATER SHORTAGE CONDITIONS...PLEASE VISIT SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT WEB SITE AT WWW.SFWMD.GOV .

OUTLOOK... A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL SLOWLY MOVE SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA EARLY THIS WEEKEND...BEFORE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS BACK INTO THE AREA. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR SOME SHOWERS TO AFFECT THE AREA EARLY THIS WEEKEND...BEFORE DRY WEATHER RETURNS TO THE AREA. THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER`S PRECIPITATION OUTLOOK FOR THE NEXT 8 TO 14 DAYS CALLS FOR BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL TOTALS ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA. THE LONG TERM OUTLOOK FOR THE MONTHS OF FEBRUARY THROUGH APRIL ALSO PREDICTS A BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL. THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER ALSO CONTINUED THE LA NINA ADVISORY FOR THE UNITED STATES FOR REST OF THE WINTER OF 2012. THIS MEANS THAT SOUTH FLORIDA SHOULD CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE REST OF THIS DRY SEASON...WHICH GOES THROUGH EARLY MAY.