Storms That Missed Fla. Pulled Plug On Rain

Tropical storms that missed Central Florida are responsible for an abrupt end to the summer rainy season and the second driest September ever recorded.

Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and Tropical Storm Hannah came close enough to Florida to "change our wind patterns and keep the sea breezes from forming," said Bay News meteorologist Mike Clay. Those sea breezes colliding with rising air over Central Florida are responsible for Florida's summer rainy season.

Only 1972, when September rainfall in Lakeland totaled 0.81 inches, has been drier. This year's September rainfall totaled 1.45 inches, about one-fourth the average of 6.33 for the month.

For the year, Lakeland is almost exactly average, with total rainfall of 42.61, compared to an average for the first nine months of the year of 42.68.

Above average rainfall in July and August provided a little cushion. Levels in the Floridan Aquifer, the main source of Central Florida's water supply, are in the normal range for this time of year, according to the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Lakes remain below normal, but are higher than a year ago. "You don't usually recover from two years of drought all in one year," said Roger Griffiths of the Lake Region Lakes Management District.

Griffiths said the Winter Haven Chain of Lakes is about a foot higher than at this time last year. While the chain dropped about three inches in September, he said it should be high enough to get through the dry season.

October usually marks the start of the dry season, when average rainfall is just 2.29 inches.

Unless there is a tropical storm of some sort, the rain that is received will be associated with cold fronts coming down from the north, rather than the warm tropical air that comes from the south during summer months, Clay said.

Polk County received a taste of fall during September, with low temperature readings of 62 on Sept. 25 and 26, which set records for those dates. The previous record for Sept. 25 had been 64 degrees in 1996. The record for Sept. 26 had been 65 in 1983.

Even cooler weather may be in the forecast this week. The National Weather Service has predicted a low of 59 in Lakeland this morning. If that happens it will be the first time temperatures have dropped into the 50s since a reading of 57 was recorded May 13.

The low temperature record for Oct. 2 is a reading of 55 recorded in 1984.

[ Bill Bair can be reached at bill.bair@theledger.com or 863-676-7118. ]