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In This Issue
Quick Facts
Return of the Summer Rains
State Climate Series
WFSU Environmental Minute
Status of Quality Control Efforts
June Rains
June CoCoRaHS Totals
Current State of the Drought
Check Us Out on Facebook
Recruiting Local Coordinators!
Quick Facts
1096
# of registered FL
observers

491
# of active FL observers

11,689
# of reports submitted by FL observers during
6/11

6/2/11
Date with the greatest # of FL reports submitted
during 6/11 (405 reports)

4.60"
Highest reported daily rainfall from FL CoCoRaHS observers during 6/11 (FL-FL-9 on 6/28/11)

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NewsletterJuly 2011
Return of the Summer Rains

As dry as it's been, it was a delight to go through the data for June and see that we had over 370 reports on a daily basis, even though most of those were 0.00" for a good portion of the month.  However, Mother Nature decided to take some pity on Florida, and the summer rains have started to pop up across the state with a vengeance. There were reports of severe thunderstorms across the entire state with heavy downpours, frequent lightning, hail, and strong winds.

Unfortunately, these rains were not widespread enough to help with our drought situation, so for the second month in a row, I will ask that you continue to report those 0.00" values and to also submit your own personal experiences with the extremely dry conditions to the Drought Impact Report.

If you're unsure of what to say in your report, you can take a look at the training slideshow for drought impacts.   

State Climate Series

If you made an observation this 4th of July weekend, you may have noticed that Florida was highlighted as part of the ongoing CoCoRaHS State Climate Series. But if you were like me and took an extended holiday weekend, then you missed it. But don't fear! The guys at CoCoRaHS HQ have archived it here, along with the rest of the series. 

 

These are great informative pieces that have been put together by a climatologist in each state, highlighting and summarizing the climate of their state.  If you plan on making a trip to a state you haven't visited before, these narratives might just help you decide what to pack.
WFSU Environmental Minute

Environmental Minute Logo

Each week, an expert from FSU is answering a question related to environmental issues that impact Florida as part of WFSU's new "Environmental Minute" radio program. On June 19, State Climatologist David Zierden's segment addressed the following question: What is the difference between weather and climate, and climate change and global warming?  During the week of July 18, Assistant State Climatologist Melissa Griffin will answer: Why do we get so much rain in The Sunshine State?

 

The program is sponsored by The Florida Climate Institute, The Florida State University College of Arts and Sciences, and the FSU Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science. The segment airs on Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:04am on 88.9 WFSU-FM. Archives are posted at http://wfsu.org/environmental.

 
Status of Quality Control Efforts

The extra effort you're taking to make sure that your observations are correct has really paid off. Not one observation from Florida was flagged for the month of June. So, I'll say it again: thank you for taking that extra minute as you enter your report. Even with our clean record from last month, if you receive an email from me with the subject line 'Question About Your Recent CoCoRaHS Observation', please take a moment to answer me back. And if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

June Rains

Rainfall totals for June were below normal across most of the state (Table 2). Monthly totals at Pensacola (1.64 in) and Key West (0.71 in) were more than four and three inches below normal, respectively. In contrast, the monthly total at Miami (12.22 in) was more than three inches above normal, aided by a daily total of 3.19 inches observed on the 30th. Daily totals at Fort Myers (4.22 in) and Daytona Beach (1.92 in) on the 29th broke records in existence since 1909 and 1932, respectively (Table 3). In addition, a monthly total of 1.15 inches at Miami Beach was the driest June on record, breaking the previous record of 1.45 inches observed in 1927. A monthly total of 1.20 inches at Sarasota denoted the second driest June since records began in 1911. Although most areas of the state recorded below normal monthly totals, there were areas in the southwest and near the central east coast where totals were above normal (Figure 1). At Daytona Beach a monthly total of 12.29 inches was 6.60 inches above normal.  

Table 1: June precipitation totals and departures from normal (inches) for selected cities.
Table 1
Table 2: Daily rainfall records (inches) tied or broken during June (compiled from NOAA, NWS).
Table 2
Figure 1: A graphical depiction of the monthly rainfall departure from normal (inches) for June is given in the figure below (courtesy of NOAA, NWS).
Figure 1
June CoCoRaHS Totals

Here are the CoCoRaHS rainfall totals for June from some select CoCoRaHS stations across the state. Notice that the color key has changed from the last newsletter.

Rainfall map 

Current State of the Drought

Conditions have deteriorated across the state since the June 7th release of the National Drought Monitor. At that time, only 7% of the state was listed as being in exceptional drought, meaning widespread crop/pasture loss and shortages of water in reservoirs, streams, and wells, creating water emergencies. When the monitor was released on the 22nd of June, that percentage had increased to 22%. As of July 7th, we've seen that number decrease to 17%, mainly due to conditions improving along the southeast coast.  There was a little improvement in the northeast portion of the state, but the Panhandle has not seen enough rainfall to help ease the drought conditions.

 

The National Drought Monitor is updated weekly, so you can always check the most recent conditions here: National Drought Monitor.

FL Drought Monitor Map 

Check Us Out on Facebook!

You can now "like" Florida CoCoRaHS on Facebook! By joining our Facebook page, the latest Florida CoCoRaHS news items will automatically show up in your "news feed" when you first login to Facebook. To join, click the link below, then click the "like" button on our Facebook page.

 

Find us on Facebook  

Recruiting Local Coordinators!

Over the last year, some of our local/county coordinators have moved on to different states or had other circumstances come up that prevent them from continuing as coordinators. While I would love to be able to help out every new and current volunteer across the state, my poor car would hate all the miles of driving to and fro, so I need your help. If you're interested in helping out in your local community or county as a CoCoRaHS Coordinator, please send me an email so that I can go over some of the duties that our local coordinators take on. Even if there's already a coordinator in your county, please feel free to ask about helping them out as well.   

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm! If at any time you have questions about CoCoRaHS, reading your rain gauge, or finding a location to setup your rain gauge, please feel to contact a Florida CoCoRaHS Coordinator. We are lucky enough to have regional support from National Weather Service offices across the state, as well as county/local help from several CoCoRaHS volunteers.
 

Take care,

Griffin Photo
Melissa
Melissa Griffin
Florida CoCoRaHS State Coordinator
Assistant State Climatologist

Florida Climate Center/Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies
Florida State University 
232 R.M. Johnson Building 
Tallahassee, FL 32306-2840

850) 644-0719
[email protected]

"Because every drop counts"