A drought advisory covering much of Florida including the Treasure Coast was issued by NOAA last Thursday. Forecasters predict the dry conditions are likely to worsen in the weeks ahead.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Derrick Weitlich says the Treasure Coast has received about 50% less rain than normal since the start of December. Vero Beach for example normally gets about 8 inches of rain during the 3 months from December through February. This year only 2.8 inches has fallen. "So that was 5 inches below normal," said Weitlich. "And for Fort Pierce and Stuart they picked up maybe around 3 to 4 inches. So we're running about 50% of normal rainfall for the winter.”
The lack of rain prompted the drought advisory to be issued not only for our region but much of Florida, including the panhandle where wildfires forced the evacuation of more than 1,000 homes over the weekend. The dry conditions around Panama City, said Weitlich were among a number of factors that "helped contribute to those wildfires."
Forecasters blame La Nina for the abnormally dry conditions across the state. It is the cold counterpart to El Niño. La Niña is a weather pattern that tends to bring warmer temperatures to the south during the winter months, but cooler weather to the north. However Weitlich cautions that the drought advisory that was issued does not mean we are in a drought now along the Treasure Coast. It is the lowest level on the warning scale and just means conditions are "abnormally dry," although we may face drought conditions in the weeks ahead.
“With La Nina conditions expected to persist over the next few months," he said. "That’s going to be the concern, increased threat for drought, higher risk for wildfires, until the wet season."
The wet season typically gets underway in late May or early June.