Florida, 2025

Drought in Florida, September 1 to 16, 2025

September 1 to 16, 2025 · NWS MFL · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

Prolonged periods of dry weather across much of South Florida since the winter months led to drought conditions entering September. Rainfall in the month of September allowed the drought condition to improve to moderate (D1) drought or better by 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
9

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.

Prolonged periods of dry weather across much of South Florida since the winter months led to drought conditions entering September. Rainfall in the month of September allowed the drought condition to improve to moderate (D1) drought or better by 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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 31, 5:50 PM EST, 6 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 5:50 PM EST, 6 hours 10 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Miami FL
650 PM EDT Sun Aug 31 2025

...New AVIATION...

.UPDATE...
Issued at 152 PM EDT Sun Aug 31 2025

A deep trough remains over the E CONUS, while a decaying stationary
sfc boundary stretches across the northern half of the Florida
peninsula and the northern Gulf waters. 18Z MFL sounding data was
showing deep moisture over SoFlo with PWAT values above 2 inches,
with model soundings also estimating PWAts around 2.0-2.5 inches for
this afternoon, which is around the 80th percentile for the season.

Deep tropical moisture will remain blocked to the north by the
frontal boundary, supporting scattered to numerous showers and
thunderstorms this afternoon. The overall synoptic flow will
continue to be driven by a westerly component dominating the 2-10 km
atmospheric column. At the sfc, pressure gradients remain weak
enough to keep a prevailing south-southwesterly weak flow in place,
even becoming calm at times. Therefore, storm motion will be west-to-
east, and placing the best chances for deep convection over the
eastern half of SoFlo.

POPs will be in the 70-75% range, with another round of weather
expected today. Main lifting mechanism will again be sea breezes and
outflow boundary collisions, resulting in lines of heavy showers and
embedded thunderstorms. Rainfall accumulations could reach the 2-3
inches range (isolated higher amounts possible) with the heaviest
downpours, especially slow-moving cells. Therefore, main concern
will be the potential for urban flooding over some of the Atlantic
metro areas. Much of southeast Florida remains under a Marginal Risk
(level 1 of 4) for excessive rainfall each day through the rest of
the long weekend.

Expect high temps in the upper 80s to low 90s before cloud cover
increases, while lows will again dip into the low-mid 70s overnight.

&&

.SHORT TERM...
(Today through Monday)
Issued at 149 AM EDT Sun Aug 31 2025

A prolonged period of unsettled weather will continue across
South Florida as deep upper-level troughing remains established
over the Eastern Seaboard. Satellite imagery early this morning
shows the trough axis has ejected over the western Atlantic, while
a corresponding surface boundary gradually drifts southward along
the Florida peninsula. This should help enhance moisture
advection along the column today.

With this improved moisture profile and westerly flow in place,
scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms will once again be
possible this afternoon, with activity starting to develop inland in
the early afternoon hours, then progressing east towards the East
Coast metro. Guidance suggests generally up to 1 inch across much of
South Florida could be possible, with pockets of 1-2 inches along
the East Coast metro, and up to 3 inches in isolated spots. One
potential limiting factor to keep in mind will be the potential that
the prevailing westerly flow could preclude the development of the
Atlantic sea breeze this afternoon, which would reduce the
possibility for convection to become pinned over the metro areas for
prolonged periods, and thus limit the potential for higher
rainfall accumulations. That being said, high-res models have
shown spotty run-to-run consistency over the past several days, so
confidence regarding the finer-scale details of this solution
remains low. Nevertheless, given this discussion, and recent
rainfall over the last few days, localized flooding concerns
cannot be ruled out, and WPC is keeping much of South Florida
under a Marginal Risk (level 1 of 4) for excessive rainfall today,
but widespread impacts appear unlikely at this time.

On Monday, chances for widespread rainfall have trended downward,
with scattered showers and a few thunderstorms still forecast to
develop, but concerns over flash flooding somewhat diminished.

Highs this weekend will remain in the low-mid 90s, while lows could
dip to the low-mid 70s overnight.

&&

.LONG TERM...
(Monday night through Saturday)
Issued at 149 AM EDT Sun Aug 31 2025

The period of unsettled weather looks to persist through much of the
upcoming week as the upper-level trough lingers over the Eastern
Seaboard, with several shortwave impulses moving through the flow.
Repeated rounds of rainfall through mid-week will keep at least a
marginal risk for localized flooding, especially along the East
Coast metro where westerly flow will continue to focus activity. A
weak surface low may develop and move across South FL on Tuesday,
which could bring a temporary uptick in shower and thunderstorm
coverage.

By late week, the upper trough is expected to gradually lift
northward, which should begin to shift the pattern into next
weekend. High temperatures through the extended period will
generally range from the low to mid 90s, with overnight lows in
the low-mid 70s across the interior and up to the upper 70s along
the coasts.

&&

.AVIATION...
(00Z TAFS)
Issued at 700 PM EDT Sun Aug 31 2025

Winds will become light and variable after 00-01Z and remain so
through around 16Z when W-SW flow returns. Showers or thunderstorms
may linger near the terminals through the early evening hours, then
VFR prevails overnight. Another round of MVFR/IFR periods is likely
after 18Z, especially over the Atl terminals as lines of
thunderstorms will favor the eastern half of South Florida.

&&

.MARINE...
Issued at 149 AM EDT Sun Aug 31 2025

Light westerly to southwesterly winds develop today across all local
waters. Seas are expected at 2 feet or less across all local waters.
Scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms remain possible each
day, which may cause periods of locally gusty winds and rough seas.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Miami            77  92  77  91 /  70  80  60  80
West Kendall     76  91  76  91 /  60  80  60  80
Opa-Locka        76  93  77  92 /  70  80  50  80
Homestead        76  91  76  91 /  70  80  60  80
Fort Lauderdale  76  91  77  91 /  70  80  60  80
N Ft Lauderdale  77  92  77  92 /  70  80  50  80
Pembroke Pines   76  93  77  93 /  70  80  50  80
West Palm Beach  76  91  77  91 /  70  80  50  80
Boca Raton       76  93  76  92 /  70  80  50  80
Naples           78  91  77  91 /  60  70  50  70

&&

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

SHORT TERM...ATV
LONG TERM....ATV
AVIATION...17

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Coastal Broward County

When
September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 16, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Coastal Broward County forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
26.152, -80.456 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rainfall in the month of September allowed the drought condition to improve to moderate (D1) drought.

Drought, Metro Broward County

When
September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 16, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Metro Broward County forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
26.152, -80.456 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rainfall in the month of September allowed the drought condition to improve to moderate (D1) drought.

Drought, Coastal Palm Beach County

When
September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 16, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Coastal Palm Beach County forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
26.648, -80.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rainfall in the month of September allowed the drought condition to improve to moderate (D1) drought.

Drought, Metro Palm Beach County

When
September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 16, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Metro Palm Beach County forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
26.648, -80.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rainfall in the month of September allowed the drought condition to improve to moderate (D1) drought.

Drought, Inland Palm Beach County

When
September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 16, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Inland Palm Beach County forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
26.648, -80.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rainfall in the month of September allowed the drought condition to improve to moderate (D1) drought.

Drought, Coastal Miami-Dade County

When
September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 16, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Coastal Miami-Dade County forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
25.609, -80.499 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rainfall in the month of September allowed the drought condition to improve to moderate (D1) drought.

Drought, Metropolitan Miami-Dade

When
September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 16, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Metropolitan Miami-Dade forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
25.609, -80.499 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rainfall in the month of September allowed the drought condition to improve to moderate (D1) drought.

Drought, Far South Miami-Dade County

When
September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 16, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Far South Miami-Dade County forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
25.609, -80.499 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rainfall in the month of September allowed the drought condition to improve to moderate (D1) drought.

Drought, Inland Miami-Dade

When
September 1, 12:00 AM EST to September 16, 10:00 AM EST
Where
Inland Miami-Dade forecast zone
Reported by
Drought Monitor
Coordinates
25.609, -80.499 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Rainfall in the month of September allowed the drought condition to improve to moderate (D1) drought.

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

More

Every storm in Florida in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, September 2025

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: 1295725, 1295726, 1295727, 1295728, 1295729, 1295730, 1295731, 1295732, 1295733.