Wet Season

Record high temperatures, steadily increasing humidity and afternoon thunderstorms; that sure sounds like the beginning of South Florida’s wet season. And, for a chance, it looks like it is starting right on time.

The average date for the start of the wet season is May 21 for Palm Beach County and May 23 for the Treasure Coast. This information comes from the National Weather Service offices in Melbourne and Miami.

Jim Lushine, the retired warning coordination meteorologist for the Miami office, and Raymond Biedinger, examined weather records since the 1950’s to come up with the average start of the wet season.

The duo discovered that the earliest beginning date of the wet season was April 16 and the latest June 3. “Based on these dates, the average duration of the summer season was 152 days or just less than 5 months,” the two meteorologists reported. “The shortest summer season was only 118 days in 1983 which was the year that had the earliest ending date. The longest summer season was 195 days which occurred in 1995.”

The two meteorologists reported that precipitation totals during these established summer seasons “ranged from the least amount of 24.75 inches in 1987 to the greatest amount of 74.85 inches in 1968. The average amount was 40.86 inches.”

Randy Lascody, a senior forecaster with the Melbourne office, determined that the average starting date of the wet season for Fort Pierce and Stuart is May 22, while the average starting date for Vero Beach and Sebastian is May 23.

This e-mail message is intended only for the personal use of the recipient(s) named above. If you are not an intended recipient, you may not review, copy or distribute this message. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the Hearst Service Center (cadmin@hearstsc.com) immediately by email and delete the original message.