No significant relief from the Florida drought is in sight as rainfall will largely bypass the Sunshine State into the middle of the month.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor released on March 28, over 90 percent of the state is enduring abnormally dry to severe drought conditions.
The worst of the drought is centered from just south of Jacksonville to Gainesville, Melbourne and Fort Myers.
Occasional soaking showers off the Atlantic has largely spared the southeastern corner of the state, including Miami, from the drought.
Storms this week will lift from the southern Plains to the Great Lakes with the bulk of the heavy rain and thunderstorms following along this path.
Florida will get scraped by the tail end of wet weather first on Monday and Monday night and then again on Wednesday into Thursday.
The soaking thunderstorms will tend to fizzle and become more localized as they cross central and southern portions of the state.
Prolonged dryness well through the spring could have an impact on local agriculture, including citrus and vegetable crops.
“Citrus trees are blooming now with apparently little or no adverse impact due to the dryness,” AccuWeather Senior Agricultural Meteorologist Dale Mohler said.
“As long as these summer rains arrive on time and fall consistently, the citrus crop should be okay and conditions of the vegetable crops should improve,” he added.