July is normally one of our wetter months, as we are locked into the summertime rainy season.
Normally, we have afternoon and evening thunderstorms following some sunny mornings. The month started that way. By the second week, we started with a southwest wind flow. With that, though, there wasn’t too much deep moisture around, so we only had a few showers.
That was the stretch where we had highs in the mid 90s everyday. That quickly changed by the third week, and the rains began and the timing was early and often. Rain fell all over area, but was concentrated in southwest Pasco County, northern Pinellas County and northwest Hillsborough County.
Some unofficial rainfall totals exceeded two feet during the month.
Here are some official totals and their comparisons to normal:
- Tampa 11.84 inches (4.77 inches above normal)
- Bradenton 8.27 inches (0.92 inches below normal)
- Plant City 10.22 inches (2.62 inches above normal)
- Inverness 11.37 inches (3.98 inches above normal)
- St Pete 14.32 inches (6.98 inches above normal)
- Lakeland 12.56 inches (5.07 inches above normal)
Despite the excessive heat for about a week, most areas ended up within a tenth or two of a degree of normal.
August is also a very wet month, typically, but hopefully we can have a chance to dry out a bit and enjoy some Florida sunshine.