Florida Will See Drought-Relieving Rain This Week, But It Could Be Too Much For Some
Florida Will See Drought-Relieving Rain This Week, But It Could Be Too Much For Some
Rob Shackelford Tue, April 7, 2026 at 10:38 AM UTC
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Florida will see rounds of rain this week, bringing some much needed relief to parts of the drought-stricken state.
However, some places could see too much - too quickly, bringing a flood threat to millions.
Happening Now
Rainfall has spread across much of the Florida Peninsula and will continue through the next couple of days. Some of the rainbands could be intense and bring pockets of flooding.
Forecast Timing
The first round of rain moved through yesterday as a cold front stalled out over the state. Some parts of the state picked up 2 to 5 inches of rain Monday, particularly between Vero Beach and Daytona Beach.
Flood watches are in effect for much of the east coast of the peninsula through Tuesday night.
These locally heavy downpours will be enhanced by a pair upper level disturbances drifting over the state from the Gulf of Mexico as the stationary front hangs out.
This setup should remain in place through Thursday.
Fortunately, the majority of the rain will wrap up by Friday, so any weekend plans won’t be impacted.
The main factor of the rainfall for Florida. A stalled frontal boundary, enhanced by upper disturbances, will bring rainfall that will last into Thursday.How Much More Rain?
The highest totals are expected across the eastern coastline of Florida through Friday, where flood watches have been issued in the green areas in the graphic below, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Daytona Beach.
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Widespread additional amounts over 3 inches are expected generally from Daytona Beach and the Space Coast to near West Palm Beach. But should slow-moving storms move over the same areas, we could see isolated totals over 5 inches.
Some places could see rapid rain rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour. Rainfall this quick will not allow the soil to absorb it. As a result, flooding is possible, especially in urban areas.
Across the southern portion of the state, including Miami, an additional 1 to 3 inches are expected.
Lighter additional amounts are expected, in general, in the western Florida Peninsula, and little or no additional rain is expected in the western Florida Panhandle.
Much Needed Relief
Florida is in one of its worst droughts this century. The state is in the highest extreme drought, or a D3 of 4, in over the last 25 years, according to the US Drought Monitor. Note that in January 2000 and December 2011, there was a higher amount of the exceptional drought, or a D4 of 4.
Tallahassee, Florida, has only seen 6.66 inches of rainfall this year. Their average year-to-date for this time of year is more than double that at over 14 inches. Cities like Jacksonville, Orlando and Daytona Beach are all running well below average as well.
Data: USDA, NDMC, NOAA
Drought-stricken soil doesn’t handle fast rainfall very well. It needs steady rain to be able to chip away at the drought. Should rain fall too quickly, it just leads to runoff and eventually flooding.
Here’s to hoping that the rainfall is widespread and that rates remain at levels where the soil can actually benefit from the rain.
Rob Shackelford is a meteorologist and climate scientist at weather.com. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Georgia studying meteorology and experimenting with alternative hurricane forecasting tools.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
