Central Florida's Drought Improves, but Lingering Risks Remain

Central Florida's drought improves, but lingering risks remain

In early May, much of Central Florida was gripped by a severe to extreme drought. Although the drought conditions are slowly improving, lingering risks remain in the area.

The drought has improved in Florida even as much of north Florida had its hottest May in decades

FPREN | By William Maxham May provided some beneficial rainfall. In central Florida, rainfall deficits were more significant early in the month and areas near Ocala and eastward to the Daytona Beach and the Space Coast were in “Extreme” drought. Another large area of “Extreme” drought extended across the entire peninsula from the Fort Lauderdale area westward to the Naples area. As of May 1st, the Climate Prediction Center had only 1.26% of Flor…

May was the hottest in decades in North Florida

By multiple measures, the month of May was notable for weather extremes in North Florida. The average high temperature for May in Jacksonville was 88.8 degrees. That is the highest May average high temperature for Jacksonville in recent history, going back to 1998. The second hottest May in Jacksonville was 2006, when the average high was 88.5 degrees. In Gainesville, heat also was higher than normal for May. There were 15 days in May where the …