Drought Information Statement for South Florida March 13, 2025 Issued By: NWS Miami-South Florida Contact Information: sr-mfl.webmaster@noaa.gov This product will be updated Early April 2025 or sooner if drought conditions change significantly. Please see all currently available products at https://drought.gov/drought-information-statements. Please visit https://www.weather.gov/mfl/DroughtInformationStatement for previous statements. Webmaster email or public phone line likely preferred, but individuals may choose to include their contact information directly. 1 U.S. Drought Monitor U.S. Drought Monitor for South Florida Image Caption: U.S. Drought Monitor valid 8am EDT March 13, 2025. Severe Drought Over Eastern Portions Of South Florida. Moderate Drought Over Rest Of South Florida. Drought intensity and Extent D2 (Severe Drought): Portions of Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade Counties D1 (Moderate Drought): Most of the remainder of South Florida D0: (Abnormally Dry): Extreme Southern Mainland Monroe County and Extreme Southwest Miami-Dade County Geography Availability: United States WFO: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/data/png/current/current_wfoabq_text.png Where it says “wfoabq” change the last 3 letters to the desired CWA in terms of “wfoxxx” (excluding SJU, PPG, or GUM, only regional data available) State: Replace where it says “wfoabq” change to the state’s abbreviation Regional: Replace where it says “wfoabq” change to either of the following… Caribbean → current_caribbean_text Pacific Islands→current_usapi_text Ex; southeast → current_southeast_text Ex; midwest → current_midwest_text Ex; high plains → current_high_planes_text Ex; south → current_south_text pdf National (including HI, AK, and PR): https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/data/png/20220823/20220823_usdm.png USAPI and Virgin Islands: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/data/png/20220823/20220823_usdm_pg2.png Recent Change in Drought Intensity 4-week change map for South Florida Four Week Drought Monitor Class Change. Drought Worsened: No Change: [State each county or region within WFO region where no class change occurred. If nowhere is under no change, remove subheading.] Drought Improved: [State each county or region within WFO region where a class improvement occurred. If nowhere is under a class improvement, remove subheading.] Image Caption: U.S. Drought Monitor 4-week change map valid 8am EDT April 6th. Feel free to use other timescales if they tell a better story, or hide this slide if there’s no notable changes in your region. 4 weeks is a good default if you’re producing this product ~once per month as required by the directive. 1-Week Monitor Class Change (replace CHS with your WFO ID): https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/data/chng/png/current/current_wfoCHS_chng_1W.png Comparison of current drought monitor with drought monitor from 4 weeks ago for a desired WFO station: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/data/chng/png/current/current_wfoCHS_chng_4W.png Changing date: Replace where it says “current” twice with the date in terms of “YYYYMMDD” Ex; July 5th, 2022 → 20220705 Precipitation Rainfall deficit continues this dry season The following table gives the rainfall from November 1, 2024 to March 12, 2025: Observed Dep fm Percent Airports: Rainfall Normal of Normal Palm Beach Intl 4.18 -10.27 29% Miami Intl 3.46 -7.36 32% Ft Lauderdale-Hollywood Intl 5.76 -6.84 46% Naples Municipal 5.23 -1.26 81% Secondary Observation Sites Moore Haven (Glades) 5.86 - 2.44 71% Opa Locka (Miami-Dade) 3.93 - 6.48 38% HomeStead (Miami-Dade) 4.64 - 4.10 53% Tamiami Airport (Miami-Dade) 3.55 - 5.20 41% North Perry Airport (Miami-Dade) 3.77 - 8.46 31% Ft Lauderdale Exec (Broward) 7.48 - 4.54 62% Hialeah (Miami-Dade) 5.15 - 7.01 42% Palm Beach Gardens (Palm Beach) 3.61 - 10.12 26% North Miami Beach (Miami-Dade) 5.14 - 8.02 39% Devils Garden (Hendry) 6.10 - 2.61 70% Image Captions: Left - Precipitation Amount for [area] Right - Percent of Normal Precipitation for [area] Data Courtesy High Plains Regional Climate Center. Data over the past 30 days ending Month, DD, YYYY If longer-term drought is dominating in your region, you can use longer-timescale imagery to support that message. All data can be found at https://hprcc.unl.edu/maps.php?maps=ACISClimateMaps If you prefer a higher resolution precip source such as AHPS (https://water.weather.gov/precip/), that’s also okay but will have to be added manually each time. If little to no imagery is available for your area (i.e. USAPI) you may consider a data table. Some USAPI precipitation imagery available here:https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/drought/202303#regional-usapi and here: https://niwa.co.nz/climate/island-climate-update Pacific Island Climate Update for ENSO: Monthly Reports, find the PDF on this site: https://niwa.co.nz/climate/island-climate-update and consider linking to it here if it’s not too out of date MSWEP: https://www.gloh2o.org/mswep/ may be another option. Other options: Precipitation Station Data from USGS: Stations in each State: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/al/nwis/current/?type=precip&group_key=NONE To change state, alter link where it says “/al/” and change to desired state’s abbreviation. Homepage: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis Precipitation Reports for Basins from WCC Availability: SNOTEL and COOP stations for each state in the west including Alaska. State: https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/support/water/SummaryReports/AZ/BPrecip_8_2022.pdf Where it says “AZ” change to desired state abbreviation to other states such as AK, CA, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, OR, UT, WA, and WY. Replace where it says “Precip_8_2022” and change the “8” to the desired month of year and “2022” to the year wanted. Homepage: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/wcc/home/snowClimateMonitoring/snowpack/basinDataReports/ Temperature Summarize conditions/impacts here Image Captions: Left - Average Temperature Right - Departure from Normal Temperature Data Courtesy High Plains Regional Climate Center. Data over the past 30 days ending Month, DD, YYYY Summary of Impacts Links: See/submit Condition Monitoring Observer Reports (CMOR) and view the Drought Impacts Reporter Hydrologic Impacts Lake Okeechobee level 13.29 feet which is -1.18 feet below the normal level of 14.47 feet. Fisheating Creek level 1.62 feet which is at 56% of normal. Everglades Water Conservation Area 1 is running near normal conditions at 16.38 feet. Everglades Water Conservation Area 2 is running near normal conditions at 11.67 feet. Everglades Water Conservation Area 3 is running below normal at 9.15 feet. Agricultural Impacts None at this time. Fire Hazard Impacts Burn bans are in place for the counties of Glades, Hendry, and Collier. KBI 600-650 eastern half of South Florida and 550-600 western half of South Florida. Very high fire danger eastern areas and high fire danger western areas of South Florida. Mitigation Actions None at this time. Hydrologic Conditions and Impacts Summarize conditions/impacts here Image Caption: USGS 7 day average streamflow HUC map valid MM DD YYYY Agricultural Impacts Soil moisture over South Florida is running at 10 to 20 percentile for this time of year. Image Caption: CPC Calculated Soil Moisture Ranking Percentile valid March 12, 2025 Right: Crop Moisture Index by Division. Weekly value for period ending April 15, 2023 Fire Hazard Impacts Burn bans are in effect for the counties of Glades, Hendry, and Collier Counties. Latest FL Burn Ban map available here. Image Caption: Significant Wildland Fire Potential Monthly Outlook for March 2025 Link to Wildfire Potential Outlooks from the National Interagency Coordination Center. Latest FL burnmap at https://ffsfm.maps.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/1f6572c92f8d41ec860f461ea433819b Seven Day Precipitation Forecast Rainfall amounts up to 0.10 inches are possible over western areas Of South Florida through March 20th, 2025 Rainfall amounts of 0.10 to 0.25 inches are possible over eastern areas of South Florida through March 20th, 2025. Image Caption: Weather Prediction Center 7-day precipitation forecast valid Friday March 14 to Thursday March 20 Rapid Onset Drought Outlook Links to the latest Climate Prediction Center 8 to 14 day Temperature Outlook and Precipitation Outlook. Summarize conditions and impacts here Image Caption: Days 8 to 14 U.S. Hazards Outlook Valid Month DD to DD. Image Captions: Left - Climate Prediction Center Monthly Temperature Outlook. Right - Climate Prediction Center Monthly Precipitation Outlook. Valid 03 2025 Long-Range Outlooks The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage CPC is forecasting above normal temperatures over South Florida for the months of April through May 2025 CPC is forecasting below normal rainfall over South florida for the months of March through May 2025. Image Captions: Left - Climate Prediction Center Monthly Temperature Outlook. Right - Climate Prediction Center Monthly Precipitation Outlook. Valid March 2025 Image Caption: Climate Prediction Center Seasonal Drought Outlook Released MM DD, YYYY valid for MM-MM YYYY Drought Outlook The latest monthly and seasonal outlooks can be found on the CPC homepage Drought conditions will continue and develop over South Florida through the month of May 2025. Image Caption: Climate Prediction Center Monthly Drought Outlook Released 02-28-2025 valid through May 2025 Links to the latest: Climate Prediction Center Monthly Drought Outlook Climate Prediction Center Seasonal Drought Outlook