| National Weather Service |
| Tampa Bay Area - Ruskin, Florida |
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
240 PM EDT WED OCT 1 2003
...RECORD RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER AND FOR THE THE RAINY
SEASON (JUN-SEP) IN FORT MYERS...
THE FIRST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 2003 SAW TROPICAL STORM HENRI AFFECT
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WITH WEATHER RANGING FROM FLOODING
RAINS FROM SARASOTA COUNTY SOUTHWARD TO NOTHING MORE THAN CLOUDS AND
SPRINKLES IN PORTIONS OF INTERIOR WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA. FOLLOWING
HENRI...THE SECOND AND THIRD WEEK OF SEPTEMBER WERE RATHER DRY IN
MOST LOCATIONS WITH JUST A FEW DAYS WHERE THE TYPICAL AFTERNOON AND
EVENING THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRED. FOR THE LAST WEEK OR SO OF THE
MONTH...SOMEWHAT DEEP MOISTURE RETURNED ALONG WITH SCATTERED TO
NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...SOME PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL.
FOR THE MONTH...RAINFALL AMOUNTS ACROSS WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
FLORIDA RANGED FROM JUST TWO OR THREE INCHES IN SOME SPOTS...OR ONE
HALF OF THE NORMAL RAINFALL...TO OVER SEVENTEEN INCHES IN OTHERS...
OR MORE THAN DOUBLE THE NORMAL RAINFALL. THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL
AMOUNTS WERE PRIMARILY IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA IN THE PUNTA GORDA AND
FORT MYERS AREAS.
AT FORT MYERS - PAGE FIELD IN PARTICULAR THE MONTHLY RAINFALL TOTAL
OF 17.21 INCHES SET A NEW RECORD FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER. THIS
FOLLOWED THE 2ND WETTEST AUGUST ON RECORD WHERE 16.80 INCHES OF RAIN
FELL. THESE TWO MONTHS COMBINED SAW JUST OVER 34 INCHES OF RAIN AT
FORT MYERS...ALMOST TWO-THIRDS OF THE ANNUAL RAINFALL. BELOW IS A
TABLE DISPLAYING THE SEPTEMBER RECORDS AT FORT MYERS...ALONG WITH THE
TWO MONTH RAINFALL TOTAL RECORDS.
TOP 10 WETTEST TOP 10 WETTEST CONSECUTIVE
SEPTEMBER'S IN FORT MYERS: TWO MONTHS IN FORT MYERS:
*1 17.21 IN 2003* 1 34.57 IN JUN/JUL 1974
2 16.60 IN 1969 *2 34.01 IN AUG/SEP 2003*
3 16.32 IN 1947 3 28.79 IN JUN/JUL 1936
4 15.58 IN 1953 4 28.44 IN AUG/SEP 1979
5 14.54 IN 1962 5 28.30 IN JUN/JUL 1943
6 14.49 IN 1935 6 27.63 IN SEP/OCT 1969
7 14.14 IN 2001 7 27.32 IN JUN/JUL 1992
8 14.05 IN 1948 8 26.36 IN MAY/JUN 1936
9 13.65 IN 1979 9 26.34 IN JUN/JUL 1982
10 13.59 IN 1998 10 26.04 IN JUL/AUG 1995
NORMAL RAINFALL FOR SEPTEMBER IN FORT MYERS = 7.86 IN.
FOR THE RAINY SEASON WHICH GENERALLY RUNS FROM JUNE 1ST THROUGH
SEPTEMBER 30TH...FORT MYERS SAW OVER 51 INCHES OF RAIN WHICH WAS THE
WETTEST RAINY SEASON SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1931. THIS TOTAL WOULD
HAVE BEEN MUCH HIGHER IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE WELL BELOW NORMAL
RAINFALL IN JULY...WHEN LESS THAN ONE-THIRD OF THE NORMAL RAINFALL
OCCURRED. BELOW IS A TABLE OF THE TOP TEN RAINY SEASONS IN FORT
MYERS.
TOP 10 WETTEST RAINY SEASONS
(JUN/JUL/AUG/SEP) IN FORT MYERS:
*1 51.53 IN 2003*
2 49.73 IN 1947
3 49.59 IN 1995
4 46.58 IN 1974
5 46.19 IN 1982
6 45.24 IN 1968
7 43.92 IN 1939
8 43.52 IN 1962
9 43.46 IN 1981
10 42.91 IN 2001
NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE RAINY SEASON IN FORT MYERS = 36.15 IN.
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FOLLOWING ARE PRELIMINARY AND UNOFFICIAL RAINFALL TOTALS FOR THE
MONTH OF SEPTEMBER AND THE RAINY SEASON AT SELECTED LOCATIONS ACROSS
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA.
RAINY SEASON
OBSERVING SITE COUNTY SEP TOTAL JUN-SEP TOTAL
(INCHES) (INCHES)
...AIRPORTS...
FORT MYERS/PAGE FIELD LEE 17.21 51.53
BROOKSVILLE/HERNANDO CO HERNANDO 7.19 48.50
ST PETE/CLEARWATER INTL PINELLAS 8.82 47.28
FORT MYERS/SW FLORIDA INTL LEE 15.46 45.02
PUNTA GORDA/CHARLOTTE CO CHARLOTTE 13.65 42.81
SARASOTA-BRADENTON INTL MANATEE 8.20 42.41
ST PETE/ALBERT WHITTED PINELLAS 7.71 36.10
TAMPA INTL HILLSBOROUGH 4.01 35.73
LAKELAND LINDER POLK 3.86 33.98
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE HILLSBOROUGH 5.56 32.26
...OTHERS...
BONITA SPRINGS LEE 15.78 60.25
SARASOTA 5 ESE SARASOTA 8.66 53.57
POINT LONESOME CHARLOTTE 13.59 53.43
HOLIDAY 5 E PASCO 4.57 52.55
VENICE 3 NE SARASOTA 11.55 52.46
PUNTA GORDA 8 NE CHARLOTTE 16.99 51.13
DUETTE MANATEE 11.50 48.19
LAND O LAKES PASCO 6.57 47.76
GARDNER HARDEE 14.29 46.64
MYAKKA CITY MANATEE 7.69 46.12
ENGLEWOOD 4 NNW SARASOTA 11.27 46.02
CLEARWATER PINELLAS 7.37 45.65
CHASSAHOWITZKA CITRUS 3.42 45.02
BRADENTON 5 ESE MANATEE 7.96 44.86
OLGA (CALOOSAHATCHEE RVR) LEE 10.01 44.86
WARES CREEK MANATEE 7.97 44.71
NORTH PORT SARASOTA 11.46 44.27
ODESSA 3 S HILLSBOROUGH 6.49 43.94
ST LEO PASCO 10.61 43.94
ARCADIA 8 WNW DESOTO 9.52 43.27
GULFPORT PINELLAS 9.44 42.97
NOCATEE DESOTO 11.26 42.85
RUSKIN/NWS HILLSBOROUGH 9.25 42.67
FORT OGDEN 14 E DESOTO 10.26 41.77
CRYSTAL RIVER 4 S CITRUS 4.34 40.93
COLEMAN 2 W SUMTER 3.74 40.56
MASARYKTOWN 5 W HERNANDO 7.01 40.38
DADE CITY 10 E (GREEN SWAMP) SUMTER 5.84 40.12
FOUR CORNERS POLK 7.56 39.56
PALMA SOLA MANATEE 7.93 39.35
INVERNESS 3 SE CITRUS 2.73 39.07
BROOKSVILLE 8 NNW HERNANDO 5.99 39.00
AVON PARK 2 W HIGHLANDS 5.47 38.69
MULBERRY POLK 5.39 38.18
LAKE PANASOFFKEE SUMTER 3.52 37.87
APOLLO BEACH HILLSBOROUGH 6.93 37.98
SAFETY HARBOR PINELLAS 5.44 36.23
FROSTPROOF POLK 6.38 35.92
PLANT CITY HILLSBOROUGH 7.74 35.69
GOWERS CORNER 2 N PASCO 3.10 34.75
FORT OGDEN DESOTO 9.03 34.59
WAUCHULA 9 SW HARDEE 9.16 34.30
VALRICO HILLSBOROUGH 3.89 33.80
TRILBY (WITHLACOOCHEE RVR) HERNANDO 3.80 33.26
ARCHBOLD BIO STN HIGHLANDS 9.69 32.61
BOWLING GREEN HARDEE 4.18 31.92
FORT MEADE POLK 4.19 30.93
BUSHNELL SUMTER 5.19 29.33
INGLIS LEVY 6.10 28.02
WILLISTON LEVY 2.46 27.14
LAKE GIBSON POLK 5.61 26.85
FOR MORE CLIMATE INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT THE FOLLOWING
LINK: HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW/ AND THEN CLICK ON THE CLIMATE
PAGE LINK.
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PRC