Drier days are expected over the weekend and into next week after record-breaking days of rainfall on the Treasure Coast during a week of April showers.
Vero Beach broke two daily rain total records — the first on April 8 and the second on April 9, said meteorologist Cassie Leahy with the National Weather Service in Melbourne. A total of 1.62 inches on April 8 nearly doubled its previous record of 0.84 inch for that day set in 1973. A total of 3.48 inches on April 9 broke its record for that day of 1.72 inches set in 1944.
Fort Pierce broke its April 9 record set in 1912 of 2.1 inches for that day, accumulating 3.75 inches, Leahy said.
Here are the rainfall totals for the entire rainy week from April 6 through April 9:
Official historical data isn’t available for Stuart, Leahy said, but the National Weather Service uses a co-op at the city’s Water Treatment Facility on Palm Beach Road for rainfall measurements.
The biggest rain days for Stuart were April 6 and April 8, she said. Here’s a breakdown of the city’s rainfall:
Some parts of the Treasure Coast, particularly a few spots in Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce and Hobe Sound, experienced localized flooding on April 9, according to law enforcement and government officials.
The last week of rain, especially on the last day, put the Treasure Coast above normal for rainfall, Leahy said. Before that, rainfall was below normal, putting the area in an extreme drought.
Looking at yearly totals so far, 12.53 inches of rain has fallen in Vero Beach since Jan. 1, she said. The normal total through April 9 is 9.33 inches.
In Fort Pierce, 10.68 inches of rain has fallen so far this year while the normal total during the same timeframe is 8.76 inches.
Through the end of March, the total rainfall in Stuart was 3.27 inches, which was about 6 inches below normal, Leahy said. However, 6.87 inches has fallen in April so far, so the city may end up being above normal.
The rain helped drought conditions, but the Treasure Coast wasn’t moving into its rainy season yet, she said. Dry weather was expected in the forecast for the weekend and into next week with high temperatures rising from the upper 70s to the low 80s.
The U.S. Drought Monitor still had the area in an extreme drought as of April 10, but Leahy expected that to improve by the end of next week when the most recent rainfall would be taken into account.
The Florida Forest Service uses the Keetch-Byram drought index to estimate the dryness of the soil and duff layers. The index increases each day without rain and decreases when it rains. The scale ranges from 0 to 800, with 800 being the driest.
As of April 9, the drought index across the Treasure Coast had improved to 300 in Martin County, 200 in Indian River County and 100 in St. Lucie County.
Laurie K. Blandford is a breaking news reporter with TCPalm. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: See how much rain fell in Florida cities during record-breaking week
Reporting by Laurie K. Blandford, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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