Southwest Florida Drought Update

INFORMATION YOU CAN FIND IT BY VISITING WT C U DOT ORG. WELL, WE ARE NOW AND WHAT'S CONSIDERED RAINY SEASON IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. IT'S STILL BEEN QUITE SPORADIC AND SCATTERED. THE DROUGHT MONITOR STILL SHOWS THAT OUR AREA IS A LONG WAY FROM RECEIVING THE RAINFALL THAT WE NEED TO GIVE US AN IDEA OF WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT. DROUGHT WISE IS WGCUS SENIOR ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTER TOM BAYLISS. >> THE SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT THIS WEEK RESCINDED ITS STRICT LONG WATERING RULES PUT IN PLACE MONTHS AGO FOR LEE AND COLLIER COUNTIES. SEVERAL MUNICIPALITIES IN THE OUTDOOR BURNING. LEE COUNTY'S 5 MONTH LONG BURN BAN ENDED IN LATE MAY HAS TO CAPE CORAL'S. THE WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT'S DECISION IS BASED ON MORE THAN 4 INCHES OF RAIN THAT WILL FALL ON LEE AND COLLIER COUNTIES SINCE LATE MAY. A BACKYARD RAIN GAUGE ALONG THE PEACE RIVER IN GORDA IS SHOWING MORE THAN 18 INCHES FELL THERE SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR. THOSE TOTALS ARE NOT INDICATIVE OF WHATS HAPPENING THROUGHOUT SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. IN MOST PLACES SUMMER SHOWERS HAVE BEEN SPOTTY AND OCCASIONAL. AND EVEN IF THE REGION WERE TO BE BLANKET AND MORE THAN 4 INCHES OF RAIN, THAT'S NOT ENOUGH TO SAY SHE A DROUGHT THAT'S BEEN BUILDING FOR OVER 18 MONTHS. THE REALITY IS THAT THIS IS A SEVERE DROUGHT. IT WILL TAKE DAYS AND DAYS OF THAT DRIZZLY TYPE OF SHOWERS, NOT COMMON DURING THE SUMMER IN FLORIDA. AND JUST LIKE LAST SUMMER. RIGHT AT THIS TIME, THE FORECAST BY STATE AND FEDERAL DROUGHT MONITORING AGENCIES ARE MIXED. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE'S CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER IS FORECASTING ABOVE AVERAGE TEMPERATURES THROUGHOUT AUGUST. SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T HELP EASE THE DROUGHT. RAIN DOES, BUT A PREDICTION CENTER CAN'T SAY WHETHER THERE WILL BE MORE OR LESS PRECIPITATION IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER MONTHS. NO IS. DROUGHT MONITOR IS SHOWING ALL OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA LOCKED INTO A SEVERE OR EXTREMELY PARCHED CONDITIONS, AT LEAST THROUGH THE END OF THIS MONTH. LONGER TERM. THE DROUGHT MONITOR SAYS THE DROUGHT WILL CONTINUE HERE, BUT ITS GRIP WILL BEGIN TO LOOSEN. LAST SUMMER'S HOPES THAT THE RAINY SEASON WOULD QUENCHED. THE TROUT FELL SHORT ON THE LACK OF SHOWERS LEFT DEFICITS OF MORE THAN A FOOT IN THE MORE IN THE FORT MYERS REGION. THAT KICK STARTED THE DROUGHT. AND THE WILDFIRE THREAT WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE A REAL CONCERN. MORE THAN 150,000 ACRES OF FOREST HAVE BURNED STATEWIDE. THAT'S NOT A RECORD, BUT IT IS FAR MORE THAN WHAT IS BURNED IN A TYPICAL WILDFIRE SEASON. AND THERE ARE MONTHS LEFT IN THE HEART OF THE WILDFIRE SEASON THIS YEAR. WE ARE. >> YOU KNOW, STILL ON HIGH ALERT AND READY TO RESPOND TO ANY LIGHTNING STRIKES OR BACKYARD FIRES AS THE BURNS BANNED FROM BANDS ARE SOME OF THEM HAVE BEEN RESCINDED, THOUGH. SOME OF THE BACKYARD FIRES IF THEY GET OUT OF CONTROL, WE'RE ALWAYS READY TO RESPOND. >> THE WILD CARD UPCOMING IS THE PREDICTED. SUPER EL NINO, WHICH IF IT HAPPENS, WILL SUPERCHARGE THE SUBTROPICAL JET STREAM AND BRING A MUCH WETTER WINTER TO SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. MAY VERY WELL QUENCH THE DROUGHT THAT HAS BEEN BLANKETING FLORIDA SINCE THE