Click here for NOAA announcement of Rainy Season

Some highlights:

- West Palm Beach only received 10.45 inches of rain between October 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011. This is 22.64 inches below normal for the period and is the driest October to May period on record for the city, beating the old record of 13.23 inches set back in 1971.

DROUGHT IMPACTS
These large and prolonged rainfall deficits have led to a worsening of drought conditions across South Florida, with areas of metro Broward and Palm Beach counties now in a D4, or exceptional, drought status (Figure 2). The rest of South Florida remains in severe to extreme drought conditions. Not only are water and soil moisture levels at extremely low levels, but the fire danger remains very high over most of the southern Florida peninsula.

OUTLOOK
Although La Niña conditions are expected to dissipate in June, the precipitation outlook for South Florida for June is for near normal conditions. While near normal rainfall in June would begin to alleviate the very dry conditions across the region, it would likely not be enough to totally eliminate the drought across South Florida. Therefore, drought conditions and increased fire danger are likely to linger over the area through June and perhaps into July. A return to significantly increased rainfall, probably to above normal levels, is not expected until beyond July. As a result, heeding the advice of water conservation officials is strongly recommended, as well as burn bans issued by forestry officials due to the very dry ground conditions.