South Florida pelted by ‘harder’ rain

Tropical systems create intensity with smaller drops

If the falling rain feels harder than usual, it’s not your imagination.

The torrential rainfall in the past two weeks has hit us with 4 more inches of rain than normal — and smaller raindrops are to blame for the effect of stronger rain, says the National Weather Service.

How that occurs might be different than what you might expect. High pressure in the Atlantic, which can lead to tropical air masses, has helped cause the unexpected pattern, says Robert Garcia, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami.

“When you have a tropical air mass, the cloud droplets form a little differently and so their characteristics are a little different,” Garcia said. “They’re actually smaller, and smaller droplets — it makes it seem like it’s much more intense rain when you have that.”

The smaller droplets become “harder” so to speak, because the surface tension is stronger than with larger ones. Amplified by the gusty winds that come with rain showers off the Atlantic, the droplets transform into the hard rain we’ve been experiencing over the past two weeks.

And you get the gusty winds that come with little showers off the Atlantic.

“That’s kind of the illusion, ‘Oh my goodness, it’s raining harder,‘” Garcia said.

Nearly all of South Flor

ida has experienced rain increases, with a large portion of the coast seeing between 2 to 4 inches more.

If you’re hoping for a reprieve from the constant downpours, you’re likely out of luck. A tropical wave in the southeast Bahamas is expected to bring thunderstorms and heavy rains to South Florida. The wet weather is expected to continue throughout the week.