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Rainy Season Officially Over

MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – Rainy season didn't want to go without one last hurrah. The storms that drowned South Florida also marked the ending of South Florida's rainy season.

Rainy season officially ended on October 19, after a late start this year of June 3. All total, South Florida saw 133 rainy season days.

That's about 20 days less than normal and we ended up about five to seven inches below normal on rainfall despite our wet October.

The weather pattern is in a second year of La Niña which typically has a better than 70 percent chance of drier than normal conditions from November through April.

Water managers are thankful for the late season rain which gave water supplies a shot in the arm before the long dry season.

Still, they remained concerned as Lake Okeechobee, our backup water supply remains well below average levels for this time of year.

"Our perennial challenge is to accomplish the District's core missions of flood control and water supply given these complex weather patterns," said Susan Sylvester, SFWMD Chief of the Water Control Operations Bureau. "One constant is that the District will continue to follow dry-season protocols and work with local communities and our federal partners to manage the water in the regional system as effectively as possible."

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