South Florida Water Levels Positioned Well For Wet Season Start
June 2, 2014 South Florida’s water levels are at seasonally normal levels heading into the 2014 wet season that is forecast to produce near to slightly below-average precipitation, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and the National Weather Service reported at a joint briefing.
The National Weather Service’s 2014 wet season forecast calls for:
- A late start to the rainy season (Median start is May 20 on the Southeast coast and May 27 in the interior and West Coast.)
- Near to slightly below-average precipitation, with June potentially being the wettest month relative to normal
- Above-normal temperatures, 1°F to 2°F, more noticeable in the overnight/early morning
- El Niño to develop during the summer, which typically places South Florida in a transition zone between Caribbean dryness and slightly more precipitation across the southeast U.S. — this was a factor in developing the near to slightly below-average wet season forecast
Current Conditions
South Florida has seen 15.30 inches of rain to date this dry season, which is 94% of average, or a deficit of 1.05 inches. Well-timed rainfall events in key locations during this time period stabilized regional water supplies during the driest portions of the dry season.
In recent weeks, dry days have helped to position water levels at their regulation schedules for adequate water supply while making room in storage areas such as the water conservation areas and lakes for summer rains as South Florida enters the hurricane season. The regulation schedules are federally authorized operating plans designed to set water levels, based on a host of factors, to help balance competing demands on a resource such as a lake or reservoir. One of the goals is to achieve the lowest desirable water levels going into the hurricane/wet season.
Lake Okeechobee stood at 12.79 feet NGVD as of May 20, which is 0.45 feet below its historic average for this time of year. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for managing the lake’s levels, has been making regulatory releases to the Caloosahatchee River to help meet the lake’s established regulation schedule. It is too early to predict how the wet season will impact lake management during the coming months.
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