SubTropicRay's Blog

It sure seems like the rainy season never lives up to its name anymore.  Official NWS records have the Tampa Int'l rain tally over 6 inches below normal since August 1st.  We thankfully missed the deluge brought about in Fay's passing.  Unfortunately, we didn't get any substantial rainfall from that event.  Then, nearly every tropical system passed us by to the east , putting us on the dry side, or too far west to have any beneficial impacts.  The 5-6" rainfall surplus we enjoyed through late July was wiped out by the last 6 weeks.  The coming week's forecast , typical for early October, puts an exclamation point on a rainy season that seems to have ended months ago.  A better climatological description of Tampa Bay should include the mention of a brief and sporadic rainy season beginning in mid June and ending in mid August.  That's a far cry from the old mid May to late September time frame we used to call the rainy season.