ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The U.S. Drought Monitor officially put all of Tampa Bay into moderate drought status Thursday. In fact, 66.7 percent of Florida is now in a moderate drought. Last week, it was only nearly five percent of the state.
The moderate drought category, D1, corresponds to an area where damage to crops and pastures can be expected and where fire risk is high, while stream, reservoir or well levels are low.
We just completed the driest month in Tampa weather history, as March only received a trace amount of rain for the entire month. March tied eight other months in recorded weather history with this record low amount of rain. The other months were Jan. 1950, March 2006 and 1907, April 1981 and 1967, May 2001, Oct. 2010 and Nov. 1960.
So far, 2020 has been an abnormally dry year. Just 2.91 inches of rain has fallen in Tampa this year. This is about a third of the normal rainfall -- with Tampa now a whopping 5.24 inches below the normal rainfall of 8.15 inches by April 2nd. Last year on this date, we were swimming in water with over 9 inches of fallen rain.
Unfortunately, it will likely get worse before it gets better. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is forecasting below-average rainfall to continue for Tampa Bay over the next 6-10 days, with potentially near-normal rain beyond that.
During a moderate drought, burn bans are possible, trees and bushes begin browning and water supply decreases.
This is also the time of year that we need to start watching for wildfires.
The hot and dry weather is often a recipe for wildfires. We're starting to transition into a time of year that's between the last rain making wintertime cold front and when the daily sea breezes start bringing thunderstorms every afternoon.
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issues statewide stay-at-home order. What does it mean?
- Model: Florida's coronavirus peak could come in early May, with hundreds of deaths daily
- Princess cruise ship carrying passengers with flu-like symptoms headed to Florida
- Stimulus check calculator: See how much you'll likely be getting
- Man accused of killing 3, kidnapping his son involved in standoff with law enforcement in Tampa
- Hotlines, websites offer the latest on COVID-19
