Drought — Metropolitan Miami-dade, Florida

2011-06-01 to 2011-06-30 · Metropolitan Miami-dade, Florida

Event narrative

June continued the streak of below normal rainfall over most of South Florida. Little rain fell during the first 10 days of the month, with the rainy season not starting until around June 8th. Almost all the rain across the area fell in the last 2 weeks of the months. Total rainfall were only in the 2 to 4 inch range over the east coast metro areas as well as the Gulf coast areas. Miami Beach recorded its driest June on record with only 1.15 inches of rain, and Naples its 5th driest with 2.42 inches. Inland areas of South Florida received about 6 to 8 inches, with isolated 9 to 11 inch amounts south and west of Lake Okeechobee.

The level of Lake Okeechobee dropped from around 10 feet at the beginning of June to a minimum of around 9.6 feet in late June before recovering by the end of the month. Wells and underground reservoirs remained at the lowest 10 percent of normal levels. Exceptional (D4) drought conditions extended over most of Palm Beach and Broward counties as well as far northern Miami-Dade County. Extreme (D3) drought conditions extended all the way to the southwest Florida coast of Collier County, with severe (D2) drought conditions elsewhere over South Florida.

Several wildfires broke out over South Florida in June, including a large wildfire in the Everglades of Miami-Dade County near the Miccosukee Resort and several wildfires in north-central Palm Beach County and eastern Collier County.

Wider weather episode

Drier than normal conditions persisted into the first part of June across much of South Florida, leading to worsening drought impacts.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 320388. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.