Drought escalates to 'severe' level in some of Palm Beach County

Drought has escalated to the severe level in Palm Beach County and through the Treasure Coast, making southeast Florida the only spot in the U.S. east of the high plains to reach the enhanced drought benchmark.

The designation of “severe” drought, which was issued Thursday by the U.S. Drought Monitor, covers coastal areas from West Palm Beach north into Indian River County and is the third level on a 5-tier drought scale.

It means possible crop and pasture damage, potential water shortages and a higher likelihood that water restrictions may be ordered, according to the report.

Statewide, about 3 percent of Florida is considered in severe drought. Twenty-three percent of the state is in moderate drought and 6 percent is “abnormally dry.”

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“It’s been cooler and the days are shorter, so that’s mitigating the lack of rain some,” said Carl May, head gardener for a Palm Beach homeowner. “But where I live in Lake Worth along the Intracoastal, it’s just bone dry.”

Since the beginning of the dry season in mid-October, coastal Palm Beach County has received about half its normal rainfall and stands at a deficit of about 3.25 inches.

In the 16-county region overseen by the South Florida Water Management District, the rain deficit is about 1 inch.

While North Florida has been flush with El Niño-enhanced winter rains, the cold fronts that have made it to South Florida have been dry.

High pressure has blocked the normal fire hose of Caribbean moisture from reaching the parched tip of the state, while the polar jet stream has yet to punch deep enough south to tap into the tropics, said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Dan Kottlowski.

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A cold front expected to wash through the state Sunday will drop temperatures into the 40s overnight but isn’t expected to come with significant rain, said Robert Garcia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami.

Although rain chances are up to 70 percent on Sunday, it would take more than isolated showers to make a dent in the drought.

“We may get some rainfall that will be good for lawns, but I don’t think too much more than that in terms of lessening the level of dryness,” Garcia said. “As we enter the traditional fire season, people might want to start looking at their landscaping and clear any brush around their homes.”

Peak fire season in South Florida is between March and May, Garcia said. The Florida Forest Service ranked Palm Beach County at a moderate level of fire risk Thursday.

The spreading drought can be partly blamed on the lack of tropical systems last year. Tropical Storm Gordon did muck through South Florida on Labor Day, but its rain was heaviest in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

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“We really had nothing to cause rain before the end of the wet season,” Garcia said. “There was nothing to cap it off.”

September’s rain total at Palm Beach International Airport was 3.14 inches, down 5 inches from what’s normal. October had just 2 inches as measured at the airport, which is 3 inches less than normal.

“Things really aren’t growing,” May said. “My grasses are just sitting there and can look bad when they get wind burns or salt burns from the ocean.”

Water management officials are preparing for potential water shortage orders, assembling a team to more closely monitor water levels.

Year-round water restrictions were approved in 2010. They allow people to water their lawns two days per week in most counties. Watering should not be done between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

“Much like we do planning for hurricanes, we go ahead and plan for water shortages,” said Peter Kwiatkowski, a resource monitoring administrator with the district.

Lake Okeechobee was at 12.34 feet Thursday. That’s below the comfort level of the Army Corps, which likes to keep it at between 12.5 and 15.5 feet to avoid water restrictions during the dry season and discharges into the estuaries during the wet season.

The Corps issued a warning Thursday for Lake Okeechobee mariners to use “extreme caution” on some boat routes that have become shallower than normal. If the lake drops below 12 feet, some locks will be closed.

“It’s been a while since the lake was this low,” said Corps spokesman John Campbell. “Typically this is the kind of level we see in late spring or early summer, so it’s a little unusual to be here in January.”

Kmiller@pbpost.com

@KmillerWeather