Rainfall Report: Tampa Tops Latest Month-To-Date Precipitation Count

The rain is falling, and that's a good-enough reason, at almost the half-year mark, to take a look at who's suffering the most in the drought-plagued state of Florida.

Figures from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services show that as of the end of May, the Tampa Bay area has registered 20.02 inches of rain, or 49.63 percent of the area's yearly normal rainfall.

Of the nine areas reported, that's good enough for a top-spot showing in a listing of rainfall totals from most to least.

Staking claim to the bottom spot is Miami, with 11.42 inches of rain through May, placing it at just 17.54 percent of the area's normal year-end total.

In all, three areas were below 30 percent of their respective normal year-end totals: Tallahassee (22 percent), Fort Myers (22.59 percent) and Pensacola (27.51 percent).

Overall, per the Brandon Patch chart below, only one other area showed a rainfall total on track at the mid-year mark to meet the normal annual total, and that was Jacksonville, with 15.46 inches, or 46.29 percent of the normal yearly total. 

But is this good enough, given the dry conditions of spring?

According to a June 10 report from Tampa Bay Water, regional water supplies were in a "Phase 2 drought warning status due to a very dry spring season, below-normal river flows and below-normal rainfall." The report adds that "in spite of overall dry conditions this spring, a period of heavy March rains allowed the regional resevoir storage to increase nearly 2.5 billion gallons during April."

As of June 10, regional water supplies were reported "adequate to meet demands."

(For the record, the water shortage mitigation plan has four phases, rated from 1-4, advancing from "moderate" to "severe" to "extreme" to "critical." The Phase 2 drought warning, "severe," is when "drier- than-normal conditions are present and will create a surface water shortage if dry conditions persist.")

Rain continues to fall in June in the Tampa Bay area and is predicted through the end of the month as well. Brandon Patch will update the "Florida Percipitation" chart below with June rainfall totals when they become available.

Meanwhile, how bad is the drought in South Florida?

• "The ecological damage from one of South Florida's worst droughts is deepening, water managers said [June 9], and rain is going to have to arrive soon -- and in big buckets -- to heal it," according to an online report from The Miami Herald. Among other signs of distress, the report notes endangered snail kites abandoning nests "from the Kissimmee River basin down to Lake Okeechobee" and marshes in the heart of the Everglades "burning or shriveling into cracked mud."
• The start of the "wet season" in South Florida is seen as a step in the right direction, but "that won't end the long-term problems for rain-starved South Florida, which needs to catch up from a deep nine-month dry spell that has left crucial lakes speckled with brown dirt islands and cities scrambling to make sure they have enough water to squeeze by," according to a June 25 online Palm Beach Post weather report .
• "The latest victim among the growing list of drought casualties -- lawns, public fountains and small loads of laundry -- is the glass of water delivered with your menu at local restaurants," reads a June 24 online report from the Palm Beach Post. Restauranteurs were asked a day earlier "to only serve water upon request." Also, city officials "asked  condo and homeowner associations not to run their fountains as frequently and residents not to run their dishwashers and washing machines until there is a full load."