Drought in Florida, October 8 to 31, 2019

Name: Drought in Florida, October 8 to 31, 2019
Start: 2019-10-08T00:00
End: 2019-10-31T23:59
Location: Florida

October 8 to 31, 2019 · NWS TAE · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

D2 drought conditions developed across portions of the Florida panhandle on October 8th and persisted through the end of the month.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 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: 10

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 TAE wrote it up.

D2 drought conditions developed across portions of the Florida panhandle on October 8th and persisted through the end of the month.

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 Tallahassee, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 7, 7:29 PM EST, 4 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 7, 7:29 PM EST, 4 hours 31 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Tallahassee FL
829 PM EDT Mon Oct 7 2019

.UPDATE...

No significant changes to the previous forecast appear necessary.
Shower activity over land will continue to diminish this evening
with scattered showers and a few thunderstorms offshore also
diminishing later tonight. Overnight lows will generally range from
the middle 60s to lower 70s.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION [732 PM EDT]...

.NEAR TERM [Through Tonight]...

The surface trough over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico which has
been helping to spark off showers and thunderstorms will elongate to
the northeast during the overnight hours. As the upper level trough
just to our northwest begins to slide towards our area, low/mid
level moisture will decrease and limit shower development beyond
03z. Lows tonight will dip into the mid to upper 60's with 70's near
the coast.

.SHORT TERM [Tuesday Through Wednesday Night]...

A weakening frontal boundary will crawl into our CWA on Tues
producing light winds from the north, but not much precipitation.
Highest PoPs are actually in the Big Bend area at 20-40% Tues and
Wed from advected tropical moisture by the Bermuda High (20% or less
elsewhere). After the front passes, shortwave ridging will be in
place over our area. High temperatures will be around 90 and lows in
the mid 60s to lower 70s with winds mostly out of the northeast at
around 5 knots.

.LONG TERM [Thursday Through Monday]...

Thurs and Fri should see fairly hot and dry conditions as upper-
level ridging dominates the southeast US. Another weak frontal
boundary is then expected to arrive some time on Sat, but does not
appear that it will produce much rain. A somewhat cooler airmass
brought in by the front is expected to keep high temperatures in the
80s and winds out of the north. Lows will be in the 60s, with some
portions of AL possibly seeing upper 50s Sun-Tues.

.AVIATION...
[Through 00Z Wednesday]

VFR conditions will prevail through most of the TAF period, though
a 3 to 6 hour window of MVFR/IFR conditions is possible from
TLH/ABY and eastward early Tuesday morning with conditions
clearing back out to VFR a few hours after sunrise.

.MARINE...

East-to-northeast winds to around 15 knots with seas outside of
Apalachee Bay around 2-3 feet will prevail through the week. Winds
will build up to exercise caution levels, with 3-4 ft seas on Fri.
East winds then decrease to 5-10 knots for the remainder of the
period.

.FIRE WEATHER...

Fire concerns are low through the next few days with increased
moisture levels and rain chances across the region, especially in
the southeast Big Bend. Drier conditions expected later in the
week which will increase fire concerns slightly given the drought
conditions in place.

.HYDROLOGY...

Although two frontal boundaries will be affecting our area this
forecast period, neither one are expected to produce widespread
rainfall. There are no flooding concerns.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is not requested. However, spotters are always
encouraged to safely report significant weather conditions when they
occur by calling the office or tweeting us @NWSTallahassee.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...

Tallahassee   68  91  71  91  69 /  20  20  20  20  10
Panama City   70  90  73  90  72 /  20  20  20  20  10
Dothan        66  91  69  90  66 /  10  20  10  10   0
Albany        69  90  68  89  65 /  10  20  10  10   0
Valdosta      68  87  69  88  67 /  20  30  10  20   0
Cross City    70  89  71  89  70 /  40  40  30  40  10
Apalachicola  71  86  74  86  73 /  30  30  30  30  20

&&

.TAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...High Rip Current Risk until 11 PM EDT /10 PM CDT/ this evening
     for Coastal Bay-Coastal Franklin-Coastal Gulf-South Walton.

GA...None.
AL...None.
GM...None.
&&

UPDATE...DVD
NEAR TERM...Dobbs
SHORT TERM...IG
LONG TERM...IG
AVIATION...Dobbs
MARINE...IG
FIRE WEATHER...Dobbs
HYDROLOGY...IG

In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 7, 6:07 PM EST, 5 hours 53 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TALLAHASSEE FL
707 PM EDT MON OCT 7 2019

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0638 PM     MARINE TSTM WIND 18 S SAINT GEORGE ISLAN 29.41N 84.86W
10/07/2019  M41 MPH          GMZ755             FL   C-MAN STATION

            36 KNOT OR 41 MPH GUST MEASURED AT THE C
            TOWER.

&&

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Inland Gulf

When: October 8, 12:00 AM EST to October 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Inland Gulf forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 29.909, -85.261 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Calhoun

When: October 8, 12:00 AM EST to October 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Calhoun forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 30.406, -85.197 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Jackson

When: October 8, 12:00 AM EST to October 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 30.795, -85.215 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Inland Bay

When: October 8, 12:00 AM EST to October 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Inland Bay forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 30.238, -85.633 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Coastal Bay

When: October 8, 12:00 AM EST to October 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Coastal Bay forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 30.238, -85.633 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Washington

When: October 8, 12:00 AM EST to October 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 30.611, -85.665 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Holmes

When: October 8, 12:00 AM EST to October 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Holmes forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 30.868, -85.814 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, South Walton

When: October 8, 12:00 AM EST to October 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: South Walton forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 30.619, -86.171 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, North Walton

When: October 8, 12:00 AM EST to October 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: North Walton forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor

Drought, Central Walton

When: October 8, 12:00 AM EST to October 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Central Walton forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 30.619, -86.171 (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 2019 Every state in 2019 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, October 2019

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: 861940, 861941, 861942, 861943, 861944, 861945, 861946, 861947, 861948, 861949.