Drought in Florida, August 1 to 30, 2011

Name: Drought in Florida, August 1 to 30, 2011
Start: 2011-08-01T00:00
End: 2011-08-30T07:00
Location: Florida

August 1 to 30, 2011 · NWS MFL · 11 events in 11 counties and zones

Normal to above-normal rains over most of South Florida during August led to the continued improvement in drought conditions over the area.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 11 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS MFL wrote it up.

Normal to above-normal rains over most of South Florida during August led to the continued improvement in drought conditions over the area.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 8:07 PM EST, 3 hours 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 8:07 PM EST, 3 hours 53 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
907 PM EDT SUN JUL 31 2011

.AVIATION...THRU 00Z TUES.
VFR CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE MAJORITY OF THE PERIOD
WITH LIGHT TO MODERATE SOUTHEAST WINDS CONTINUING. WILL KEEP VCSH
IN THE EAST COAST TAFS OVERNIGHT AND INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
MONDAY TO ACCOUNT FOR ANY SHOWERS THAT DEVELOP OVER THE ATLANTIC
WATERS AND SPREAD INLAND. OTHERWISE...THE HIGHEST PROBABILITIES
FOR AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL BE FURTHER INLAND OVER THE
APF SITE AND POSSIBLY JUST INLAND OF THE PBI TERMINAL. 85/AG

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 246 PM EDT SUN JUL 31 2011/

DISCUSSION...A GULF SEAS BREEZE HAS RECENTLY DEVELOPED AND WILL
PUSH SLOWLY INLAND BUT WILL NOT BE TOO FAR FROM THE COAST.
MEANWHILE...THE ATLANTIC SEA BREEZE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE FURTHER
INLAND AWAY FROM THE EAST COAST METRO AREAS. SO CONVECTION WILL
FOCUS OVER THE INTERIOR AND GULF COAST...AND HIGHEST POPS WILL
CONTINUE TO BE PLACED OVER THE GLADES...HENDRY...AND COLLIER
COUNTIES FOR THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON. THE EAST COAST WILL
REMAIN MOSTLY SUNNY WITH JUST A MINIMAL CHANCE OF A SHOWER.
LOWERED POPS TO 10 PERCENT THERE...AND MAINTAINED JUST A SLIGHT
CHANCE ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT.

MONDAY-FRIDAY...THE ATLANTIC RIDGE WILL MOVE FROM CENTRAL FL TO
ACROSS SOUTH FL TUE AND BEYOND AS A MID/UPPER TROUGH MOVES IN AND
AMPLIFIES FROM NEW ENGLAND TO JUST EAST OF FLORIDA. THIS WILL
LEAD TO LIGHTENING WINDS WHILE BECOMING MORE SOUTHERLY WITH TIME.
THIS WILL ACT TO SHIFT THE FOCUS OF CONVECTION OVER THE INTERIOR
EACH DAY...WITH A CHANCE THOUGH ALL AREAS GIVEN LIGHT STEERING
FLOW. SO A BETTER CHANCE FOR SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
COASTAL LOCALES...ESPECIALLY THE ATLANTIC COAST WHICH HAS NOT SEEM
MUCH ACTIVITY OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS.

FOR NEXT WEEKEND...THE WEATHER FOR THE SERVICE AREA WILL ALL DEPEND
ON WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE LOW SOME 600 MILES EAST OF THE LEEWARD
ISLANDS. THIS LOW WILL LIKELY BECOME A TROPICAL CYCLONE OVER THE
NEXT DAY OR TWO...PER THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER. THE LATEST
SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS THAT IT'S STRUGGLING TO BECOME BETTER
ORGANIZED TODAY...WITH TWO DISTINCT AREAS OF CONVECTION.

SHOULD IT REMAIN DISORGANIZED AND DEVELOP SLOWLY...THEN A MORE
WESTWARD TRACK WOULD OCCUR. DESPITE THE MODEL CONSENSUS THE PAST
FEW DAYS OF TAKING THE SYSTEM NORTHWARD TO THE EAST OF THE
BAHAMAS...MANY SCENARIOS ARE POSSIBLE. THE LATEST GFS TRENDED
FURTHER WEST WITH THE SYSTEM TRACKING ALONG THE EASTERN BAHAMIAN
CHAIN...AND THE 31.00Z GFDL RUN EVEN TOOK THE SYSTEM OVER
HISPANIOLA TO OFF OF THE NE COAST OF CUBA...EVEN FURTHER WEST THAN
THE LATEST GFS RUN. A CASE OF NON- DEVELOPMENT WOULD BE A BROAD
LOW TRACKING WESTWARD ACROSS THE CARIB. SO THE POINT IS THERE
REMAINS A HIGH DEGREE OF UNCERTAINTY...AS IS THE CASE WITH
DEVELOPING SYSTEMS. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS CLOSELY INTO THE
UPCOMING WORK WEEK. A CLIMO FORECAST WILL BE MAINTAINED IN THE
MEANTIME WITH DAILY THUNDERSTORM CHANCES AND A CONTINUATION OF HOT
AND HUMID CONDITIONS.

MARINE...THE SURFACE RIDGE OVER CENTRAL FL WILL MOVE SOUTH AND BE
ALIGNED ACROSS THE LOCAL WATERS BY LATE TUE AND INTO LATE WEEK.
THIS WILL LEAD TO A LIGHTENING WIND FLOW WITH SEAS GENERALLY 2 FT
OR LESS.

FIRE WEATHER...NO CONCERNS AS RH'S WILL REMAIN TYPICALLY HIGH FOR
SUMMERTIME.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
WEST PALM BEACH  80  89  80  91 / 20 30 20 40
FORT LAUDERDALE  80  91  81  91 / 20 30 20 30
MIAMI            80  91  79  91 / 20 30 20 40
NAPLES           77  93  77  91 / 30 50 20 30

&&

.MFL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...NONE.
AM...NONE.
GM...NONE.
&&

DISCUSSION/MARINE...57/DG
AVIATION/RADAR/FIRE...04/AT

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 31, 9:17 PM EST, 2 hours 43 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTH FLORIDA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
1017 PM EDT SUN JUL 31 2011

FLZ063-066>075-168-172>174-011730-
GLADES-HENDRY-INLAND PALM BEACH-METRO PALM BEACH-COASTAL COLLIER-
INLAND COLLIER-INLAND BROWARD-METRO BROWARD-INLAND MIAMI DADE-
METRO MIAMI DADE-MAINLAND MONROE-COASTAL PALM BEACH-
COASTAL BROWARD-COASTAL MIAMI DADE-FAR SOUTH MIAMI DADE-
1017 PM EDT SUN JUL 31 2011

...CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ATLANTIC WATERS...
...SLIGHT RISK OF RIP CURRENTS ATLANTIC BEACHES...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH FLORIDA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

RIP CURRENTS: AN EAST WIND OF 10 TO 15 MPH ALONG THE ATLANTIC
COAST WILL RESULT IN SLIGHT RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT THE BEACHES.

THUNDERSTORMS: THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE
ATLANTIC WATERS WITH A THREAT FOR AN OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING STRIKE
AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED EACH DAY, WITH THE PRIMARY
THREATS BEING OCCASIONAL TO FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING,
BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND GUSTY WINDS.

MAXIMUM HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL REMAIN OVER 100 DEGREES OVER MOST
OF SOUTH FLORIDA THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK, RESULTING IN AN
ELEVATED HEAT EXPOSURE RISK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN
MIAMI WEBSITE AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/MIAMI.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

11 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Inland Palm Beach County

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 16, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Inland Palm Beach County forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.648, -80.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rainfall amounts in August ranged from 4 to 6 inches over parts of interior southwest Florida to over 10 inches over parts of southeast Florida. Overall, rainfall averaged near to above average over most areas, leading to gradually improving drought conditions. Lake Okeechobee remained over 3 feet below the normal level for this time of year. Underground water levels remained below normal over much of south Florida, especially over the metro east coast sections.

Drought, Inland Collier County

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 16, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Inland Collier County forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.099, -81.381 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Inland Broward County

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 16, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Inland Broward County forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.152, -80.456 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Metro Palm Beach County

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 30, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Metro Palm Beach County forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.648, -80.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Coastal Palm Beach County

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 30, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Coastal Palm Beach County forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.648, -80.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Metro Broward County

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 30, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Metro Broward County forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.152, -80.456 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Coastal Broward County

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 30, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Coastal Broward County forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.152, -80.456 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Inland Miami-Dade

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 30, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Inland Miami-Dade forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 25.609, -80.499 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Metropolitan Miami-Dade

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 30, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Metropolitan Miami-Dade forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 25.609, -80.499 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Coastal Miami-Dade County

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 30, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Coastal Miami-Dade County forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 25.609, -80.499 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Far South Miami-Dade County

When: August 1, 12:00 AM EST to August 30, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Far South Miami-Dade County forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 25.609, -80.499 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Florida in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, August 2011

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 343773, 343774, 343775, 343777, 343778, 343779, 343780, 343781, 343782, 343784, 343785.