Rain makes dent in South Florida drought

WEATHER
Rain makes dent in South Florida drought; more storms expected
The last two weeks of rain matched the previous six months' worth, but it wasn't enough to wash away lingering impacts of drought in South Florida.
BY CURTIS MORGAN
cmorgan@MiamiHerald.com
The wicked weather that washed out much of the Memorial Day weekend is going to hang around to make rush hour miserable for the next few days, as well.

But there is a silver lining to the daily dark clouds: The storms have put a significant dent in South Florida's drought. The last two weeks have brought nearly as much rain as the previous six months -- from five to eight inches over Miami-Dade and Broward counties to as much as 12 inches north of Lake Okeechobee.

Water managers said the soaking has not erased a regional deficit, but it has recharged a system running dangerously low -- particularly in South Miami-Dade.

''This was a tremendous rain event, but it's still very early in the rainy season,'' said Gabe Margasak, a spokesman for the South Florida Water Management District, which oversees the water supply from Orlando to Key West.

The district recorded nearly seven inches of rain over the last two weeks when the annual wet season turned on in full force. But the region remains seven inches below average since November, the start of what turned out to be the third driest dry season on record.

Rain gauges are likely to rise more in the next few days.

The National Weather Service predicts a good chance for scattered storms through at least Thursday, mainly in the afternoon and early evening. The most intense could bring lots of lightning strikes, strong gusts and flooding threats for low-lying areas.

''We're still in the same environment, where the atmosphere is pretty unstable,'' said Robert Molleda, a meteorologist with the weather service in Miami. ``All you need is some daytime heating and everything takes off.''

A weak low pressure system in the western Atlantic Ocean and southwestern winds will continue to spark the strongest storms over the Southeast coast, he said.

The rain lifted water levels in Lake Okeechobee, which stood at 10.79 feet above sea level Tuesday, by several inches, but a bigger boost may come in weeks ahead. The heaviest rains fell in the Kissimmee River basin, which drains south into a lake that is the heart of the regional water supply system.

Still, for now, the big lake remains more than two feet below its historic average, so low that the district two weeks ago cut farmers' allocations by nearly half.

Groundwater levels across much of South Florida also have rebounded from near-historic lows, but South Miami-Dade still ''needs a little more help,'' Margasak said.

In early May, water managers concerned about salt water intrusion tainting drinking water wells and Everglades marshes drying out issued an emergency order cutting much of South Miami-Dade and the Florida Keys back to once-weekly lawn sprinkling.

That order, covering homes and businesses from Southwest 216th Street to Key West, remains in place. The rest of Miami-Dade and Broward remain on twice-weekly irrigation schedules.