Recent rainfall douses fears of drought for St. Johns County.
Above-average rainfall totals over the last month have elevated St. Johns County above moderate drought conditions, with wildfire warnings and burn bans being lifted and the local water table showing recovery.
According to the National Weather Service, from late-May through the first three weeks of June the region west of Interstate 95 received from 10 to as much as 15 inches of rain, which is considered about twice the norm for this time of year.
Areas east of I-95 saw a total of between 5 and 8 inches of rain.
“It’s been a pretty prolific last 30 days of rainfall,” said Ben Nelson, a meteorologist with the Jacksonville office of the National Weather Service.
Nelson said in St. Johns County the recent soaking was more than enough to help relieve the drought.
“Usually, when we get upwards of 10-plus inches of rain you’d see it go toward flooding and that’s just not the case.” Statewide, Florida is beginning to inch toward more normal rainfall totals, according to the National Weather Service.
Nelson said it was difficult to predict what the rest of the summer might bring since rainstorms are dependent at this point in the season on sea breeze patterns, tropical surges and other factors.
“We feel very good about what these rains have meant in alleviating the severe fire conditions,” said Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, whose department includes the Florida Forest Service.
“And now, in true Florida fashion, we can go from one extreme to the other and prepare for tropical storm activity.” The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.