Florida’s rainy season turned on like a firehose in some areas of the state but remained a dripping faucet in others with the June 4 drought report budging little from the previous week.
Nearly the entire state remains in drought with 53% of it ranked in the two highest levels on the U.S. Drought Monitor’s severity scale.
While that’s down from the 64% listed in the extreme to exceptionally parched categories the previous week, burn bans were still in place in 15 counties on June 4 and whether July 4 fireworks restrictions could be issued depends on Mother Nature.
“The questions about firework bans are premature,” said Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Communications Director Aaron Keller said. “We have not had a statewide fireworks ban since 1998. This year’s drought conditions are severe, but we have been encouraged by recent rains across the state.”
Keller said a fireworks ban would be the “last choice” for any county in Florida.
Wakulla County Assistant Administrator Somer Pell said officials haven’t yet discussed the issue of July 4 celebrations with the holiday still a month away. Wakulla did not have a burn ban in effect but did have exceptional drought along its coast.
“This is Florida, the weather is subject to change,” Pell said.
The U.S. Drought Monitor’s weekly reports issued on Thursday measure rainfall through the previous Tuesday morning, so some of the most recent deluges weren’t included.
How much rain has fallen in Florida?
In the past week, east coast cities from Miami through Jacksonville have gotten between 2 and 5 inches of rain with the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport measuring a record 4.11 inches just on Wednesday, June 3.
Over the past month, nearly 14 inches of rain was measured in the Panhandle city of Crestview, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center.
Daytona Beach has had nearly 10 inches of rain, with West Palm Beach and Naples getting about 7 inches each.
The South Florida Water Management District rescinded water shortage warnings for Lee and Collier counties on June 4, noting 4.46 inches of rain had fallen in the area since May 15. That’s 140% of normal rainfall and increased groundwater levels by three feet in the lower Tamiami Aquifer.
Lowest monthly rainfall totals were in the Tampa Bay area, Orlando and Tallahassee where less than 4 inches fell between May 3 and June 3.
Are wildfires still active in Florida?
“We’re still running wildfires but the frequency has been greatly reduced with the moisture we’ve been getting,” said Todd Chlanda, the state wildfire mitigation specialist for Hillsborough, Pinellas and Polk counties. “The rainy season is hopefully moving in but we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Statewide there were 29 wildfires burning as of June 4. That’s compared to 135 that burned in mid-April.
And while 15 counties had burn bans June 4, that’s down from about 40 in mid-April.
But there are still rain deficits despite the recent showers. For the year, Pensacola is down nearly 8 inches of rain, Tallahassee has a 9-inch deficit, and Gainesville, Ocala and Orlando are down between 7 and 8 inches.
National Weather Service meteorologists in Miami said one of the more stubborn areas for drought is in the Everglades where a lack of water has contributed to a substantial drop in wading bird nests.
South Florida Water Management District scientists had counted just 3,500 nests through mid-May. That’s compared to a 10-year average of more than 47,000 and is the lowest amount of nesting the district has seen in 30 years.
In South Florida, there was only one category improvement in drought conditions in the June 4 report and that was in metro areas of Collier County.
Barry Baxter, a meteorologist with the NWS in Miami, said a lack of tropical cyclone-spurred rainfall during the 2025 hurricane season in addition to a drier than normal dry season sunk the Everglades into a long-term drought.
“The metro areas did get some rainfall, but the Everglades is still dry. Most of it has no standing water right now,” Baxter said. “It is abnormal for this time of year. The last time we were like this was 2011 or 2012.”
The Climate Prediction Center is forecasting above normal rainfall in Florida this month but an equal chance of above or below normal rainfall July through September.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for the USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA. She covers weather, the environment and critters as the Embracing Florida reporter. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at palmbeachpost.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: A month from July 4, has recent Florida rain helped fireworks chances?
Reporting by Kimberly Miller, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kimberly Miller, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida | USA TODAY Network
