After a very dry wet season in 2023, 2024 proved to be very different as Tampa saw over 50 inches of rain.

What You Need To Know

  • Tampa had its wettest rainy season (June-September) on record

  • Sarasota-Bradenton International had their 2nd wettest rainy season

  • Rainfall looks to be above normal for the first half of October

The months we typically associate with the rainy season are now over (although, October will likely start wet as well).

Tampa saw 51.87 inches of rain from June to September, breaking the previous record of 51.22 inches from 1945.

Tropical Storm Debby was a contributor to this season’s high totals, especially down in Manatee County.

If we took Debby out of the equation, we still had a lot of rain from daily afternoon storms. 

This was due to an easterly wind pattern much of the summer (the opposite of last year).

With a prevailing easterly wind, storms tend to pop-up near the west coast of Florida when the afternoon sea breeze tries to fight the east wind.

The sea breeze collides with the east wind in the afternoon, and thunderstorms pop up.

Last year’s rainy season was in the top 30 driest out of 135 years of data in Tampa.

Sarasota-Bradenton International recorded 54.82 inches of rain from June to September, the wettest at that particular site, and the second wettest behind 1912 per the area records.

Last year, Sarasota-Bradenton saw their second driest rainy season on record. 

Other areas, such as Lakeland and Brooksville, saw lower rainfall totals for June to September, but they were still above normal.

The first week of October looks to pick up where September left off with above normal rainfall.

However, we typically see rainfall drop off through the month of October, especially after the first cold front. 

 

 

Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.