Hurricane Nicole brought double the average rainfall for November in parts of central Florida

PALATKA, Fla., Dec. 13, 2022 —Hurricane Nicole’s pattern of heavy rainfall echoed that of Hurricane Ian’s and brought above-average rainfall across most of the St. Johns River Water Management District’s 18-county region.

A map illustrates rainfall conditions in October across the St. Johns River Water Management District.

A full report outlining November’s hydrologic conditions was presented at the District’s Governing Board meeting Tuesday. Highlights include:

Rainfall

• Districtwide, November rainfall averaged 4.24 inches, which is 2.18 inches above the average for the month.
• Districtwide, the cumulative rainfall total for the past 12 months is 55.87 inches, which is 4.86 inches above the long-term average.
• The highest 12-month totals are in Seminole County receiving 72.5 inches of rain this year and Volusia, Orange and Flagler counties all exceeding 60 inches.

Groundwater 

• At the end of November, Upper Floridan aquifer conditions (groundwater levels) were in the high range through most of the District, and normal range in northern counties and parts of Marion County.
• Groundwater levels expressed as a single districtwide index are at the 90th percentile districtwide. This means that since 1980, aquifer levels have been higher than they currently are about 10 percent of the time.

Spring flows

• The mean monthly flow at Silver Springs increased to 662 cubic feet per second (cfs), or 428 million gallons per day (mgd), which is a 21 cfs decrease from October’s mean and remains in the normal range for this time of year.
• At the Blue Spring station in Volusia County, the mean monthly flow was 203 cfs, or 131 mgd.
• At Rock Springs, the monthly mean flow decreased 1 cfs to 64 cfs (41 mgd), which is in the high range for November.
• Mean monthly flow at Wekiwa Springs decreased to 71 cfs (46 mgd), which is in the high range for the time of year.

To learn more about rainfall totals and other hydrologic data collected, visit www.sjrwmd.com.

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