Record Dry January Winding Down 

It sure has been dry this month! Of course, the dry weather has more impacts than just a brown front lawn and dusty air: brush fires are becoming more numerous across central Florida. Just today, a brush fire ignited near LPGA Boulevard in Volusia County and, of course, over the weekend a muck fire in south Alachua County had devastating results along I-75 as the smoke mixed with fog creating impossible driving conditions. So just how dry has this month been?

I've done some research this afternoon and the numbers are impressive! In Orlando, we've had just 6% of the average rainfall we usually expect during the month of January; it's been even drier across other parts of the area -- in fact, record dry. In Daytona Beach, we've measured just 0.07" of rain -- 3% of average and below the record dry January of 1950 (0.15"). It's been an even drier story in Melbourne; there, just a trace of rain has fallen, well below the 0.09" record dry January of 1974.

Of course, dry weather is typical of La Nina winters, as we've been pointing out. The storm track stays to our north and by the time fronts get here, there's just not much energy with them any longer. Another weak front will move toward the area late this week and give us a 10-30% chance of rain Wednesday through Friday, with the wettest weather coming across our northern counties on Thursday. We may get a better opportunity for more heavier rain by Super Bowl Sunday or just beyond, as a stronger system will move across the southeast. Overall, though, the long-term pattern should remain drier than average across the area!

Brian Monahan