Tropical Storm Arthur may have come ashore roughly 800 miles from Tallahassee, but it still brought a badly needed deluge of drought-improving proportions.
Officially, 4.91 inches of rain fell at Tallahassee International Airport from June 15, two days before Arthur, the first-named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, made landfall along the Texas coast.
But other parts of Leon County got an even bigger soaking based on gauge and radar data, said Kelly Godsey, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Tallahassee.
Eastern areas out by Tram Road got the highest amount — an estimated 7.7 inches of rain — while areas southwest of the airport near Fort Braden got the lowest amount, some 4 and a half inches.
Killearn Estates and Killearn Lakes got more than 6 inches of rain. The downtown area and Lake Jackson both saw 5 inches or more.
Godsey said that while Tallahassee is still down roughly half an inch for the month of June, the city got 5.2 inches of rain in May, nearly 2 inches above normal. Officially, the rainfall deficit for the year stood at 9.02 inches as of June 21.
Over the past 30 days, the capital city has seen above-normal rainfall, which has not only recharged lakes but also led to a general greening of the area.
Kinsale Lake, one of the first lakes in the Killearn Lakes chain of lakes, rose more than 2 and a half feet over the past 5 days, something Godsey called a “really good sign.” He said similar rises have been seen at Lake Jackson and Lake Iamonia and the Ochlockonee River.
“We’re seeing the response both in terms of soil moisture … people’s yards greening back up, and then now we’re seeing the hydrologic side,” he said. “The lakes and rivers begin to climb.”
Godsey, who coordinates with the U.S. Drought Monitor, said he expects parts of Leon County that have been in extreme drought to drop to severe drought and portions in the north from severe drought to moderate drought. The new drought map will be released on Thursday, June 25.
“We’ve just seen gradual improvement with the continued rain,” he said. “Because if you get five to six inches of rain in a week, you’re going to see drought improve.”
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Arthur’s remnants soaked Tallahassee — here’s how much rain fell
Reporting by Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
