Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
A year that brought 30 named storms, great deal of warmth — and lots of rain
Hurricane season was the biggest weather story of 2020 with 30 named storms, 13 hurricanes and six major hurricanes.
The storms didn’t affect South Florida when it comes to direct hits, and neither did the heat, which is quite an accomplishment considering 2020 could be Fort Lauderdale’s warmest year on record.
Rain was what got to us. We got lots and lots of rain.
Fort Lauderdale was almost 3 feet above normal and is about 7 inches shy of its all-time record, established in 1947.
“The rain wasn’t all related to tropical systems,” said meteorologist Robert Molleda of the National Weather Service, “but a lot of it was.”
Here’s a look at what we encountered weather-wise in South Florida during these memorable 12 months.
Early freeze, early thaw
Our coldest day of the year came in January. But it was a warm month, all told. January had 13 days where the high reached at least 80 degrees, according to AccuWeather.
Actually, it’s been a warm year.
In fact, Fort Lauderdale could have its warmest year on record in 2020, rivaling 2015.
Both years are at 78.7 degrees for an average daily temperature right now.
“It’s going to come down to the last day,” Molleda said.
Fort Lauderdale already has had its warmest fall on record. This year’s average daily fall
temperature was 81.5 degrees, breaking the previous record of 80.8 degrees established in 2015.
January had 11 days with lows of 59 degrees or below. The coldest day was Jan. 22, when the low was 39 degrees, a bit cooler than the previous day, Jan. 21, which saw the temperature drop to 45 degrees.
The warm-up was swift. February had a stretch of five consecutive days with highs in the 80s (Feb. 10-14). The cold snap came at the end of the month with three consecutive days of lows of 54, 49 and 50 degrees. But overall it was a great month for the Florida winter we love so much. There were only three days in which the high didn’t reach 70, and on those days the highs were 66 and 67 degrees.
COVID-19 takes over
We’ll remember it as COVID19 month, or lockdown month, or shelter-in-place-month, or perhaps the month St. Patrick’s Day was marginalized. It’s the month in which the nation became painfully aware of the gravity of the COVID-19 situation, as most of us were told to stay at home midway through March.
But it was also a beautiful weather month, and it’s unfortunate Floridians couldn’t fully enjoy it with outdoor social activities.
There were 26 days of highs in the 80s and two days of highs in the 90s. The monthly low was 52 degrees on March 1, and it dipped to 58 degrees on March 7. Every other day saw a low temperature of at least 65 degrees.
Spring and summer (April, May, June, July, August)
Here comes the rain (the rainy season is May 15-Oct. 15).
Also, here comes hurricane season (June 1-Nov. 30).
COVID-19 meant this was a time when a number of meteorologists were forced to broadcast from their homes.
Yeah, it was hot.
But it was wet, and that was the main thing.
May had 16.07 inches of rain, 11.42 more than average. In April, May, June, July and August, Fort Lauderdale had 41.41 inches of rain, which is 10.29 inches more than normal.
Record-setting hurricane season
While this was an especially quiet hurricane season for us locally, there was record-setting activity in the Atlantic basin with 30 named storms, and a record 12 of those made landfall in the continental United States.
Louisiana saw five named storms make landfall on its shores.
South Florida was clipped by one named storm — Tropical Storm Eta. It made two Florida landfalls, one in Lower Matecumbe Key (Nov. 10) and the other near Tampa, and dumped lots of rain on us.
This was a La Nina year, which often means increased activity late in the season, and 2020 was true to that billing. We went deeper than ever into the Greek alphabet, which is utilized for storm names when no more letters exist in our alphabet.
At one point we had five storms churning in the Atlantic at the same time — Vicky, Paulette, Sally, Rene and Teddy. It was only the second time that’s happened (the first was in 1971).
Lots of rain this year
A normal year for Fort Lauderdale has 62.18 inches of rain, according to the NWS. This year the total is 95.18 inches through Monday, and it’s the second-wettest year on record.
Palm Beach County’s normal year has 62.3 inches of rain, but the county has received 72.24 inches through Monday, only the 14th wettest year on record.
Miami normally gets 61.9 inches of rain, and has received 86.56 inches through Monday, the third-wettest year on record.
The record annual rainfall totals are 102.36 inches for Fort Lauderdale (1947), 108.63 for Palm Beach (1947), and 89.33 for Miami (1959).
Lake Okeechobee even got in on the act. It’s filled to the brim at 15 feet, 9 inches deep, which is about 1 one foot, 7 inches above the normal peak for winter.
But the October rains didn’t deter crowds from voting early.
Neither did the November rains. November saw measurable rain in 10 of the first 12 days, thanks in part to Tropical Storm Eta. South Florida was under a flood watch for several days.
Miramar saw close to 14 inches of rain in a 24-hour period, and Weston and parts of Pembroke Pines received 13 inches. Fort Lauderdale received almost 7 inches of rain in a 24-hour period.
During the months of September, October and November, which formed Fort Lauderdale’s wettest fall on record, the region received 47.58 inches of rain, almost half the annual total. .