South Florida was really dry this fall, especially in West Palm Beach

It was drier and warmer across South Florida this fall, but West Palm Beach felt it a little more than the rest of us, with its driest fall since record-keeping began in 1888, according to the National Weather Service in Miami.

“West Palm Beach recorded its driest fall on record with only 6.92 inches of rain,” meteorologists said. That was 11.31 fewer inches than normal.

Fort Lauderdale had its ninth driest fall, while Miami Beach recorded its fourth and Hialeah its second, according to the weather service’s seasonal update.

As for the winter outlook, forecasters predict that El Nino conditions will bring above normal rainfall. Temperatures in late December could be a little warmer than we're used to for the holidays.

A subtropical high-pressure system present for most of the autumn season limited the number of cold fronts and amount of moisture for the area, the update said.

Tropical Storm Gordon, which formed south of Homestead on Sept. 3, was the only system to significantly dampen the area. It dumped five to seven inches of rain over southern Miami-Dade County, according to the weather service.

The 10.37 inches of rain recorded at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport during the fall was 8.28 inches fewer than normal. That made it the driest fall since they began keeping records in 1913.

Miami Beach measured 6.22 inches. That was 8.87 inches below normal making it drier than when forecasters started keeping track in 1927.

With 10.88 inches of rain, Hialeah measured 10.48 inches below normal for the driest fall since the first measurements were recorded in 1940.

The fall temperatures were also markedly warmer than usual, exceeding the 30-year-normal in several areas, meteorologists said.

With an average of 80.2 degrees, the temperatures at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport this fall were .4 degrees warmer, marking its third warmest autumn.

Miami and Palm Beach international airports each recorded their sixth warmest by .9 and 1.5 degrees respectively.

The average for Miami was 80.1 while Palm Beach’s was 79.1, according to the update.