WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Wet, hot and itchy — welcome to Christmas in South Florida, where the heavy rains and abnormally high temperatures are prompting county officials to spray for mosquitoes on Friday.
Miami-Dade County is nearly 10 inches above normal, while the South Florida Water Management District shows Palm Beach County receiving 6.2 inches of rain already this month.
That's 4.15 inches above the normal for December. Temperatures are running nearly 10 degrees above normal. The windy weather has also made it difficult for officials to get ahead of the mosquito problem.
Gary Goode, an environmental program manager with the Palm Beach County Mosquito Control Division, told the Palm Beach Post the county sprayed late last week, but will go ahead with an unprecedented spray likely Friday because there is still water on the ground.
