We are still a few months away before the rainy season kicks into gear. Many of you are probably hoping for some beneficial rains soon, especially following a very dry March. 

While rain chances look to increase quite a bit next week, April is typically Tampa's second driest month of the year. 

What You Need To Know

  • April is typically Tampa's second driest month of the year

  • Tampa averages 2.03 inches of rain in April

  • Fewer cold fronts arrive and few thunderstorms occur in April

  • The driest April on record produced no measurable rain

The dry season generally runs from October through May but November and April are typically Tampa's driest months of the year. 

Tampa receives most of its rain during the rainy season from sea breeze thunderstorms and tropical waves. The dry season is very different since we don't have sea breeze thunderstorms or tropical waves passing by. Instead, cold fronts become one of the largest contributors to rain during the dry season.

When there are no cold fronts, Tampa Bay is typically dry. Our daily thunderstorms that form along the sea breeze don't really begin to fire up until June - the start of our rainy season. Why? We need more heating from the sun during the day and we need the humid, tropical air mass to destabilize the atmosphere to trigger thunderstorms. 

There is a lot more sunlight this time of year and there is plenty of heating from the sun during the day. The missing ingredient for sea breeze thunderstorms is the lack of humid, tropical air.

The humid, tropical air we are talking about is when it feels like you have been slapped by a wet sponge. Floridians know this very well and this is what comes to mind when you think of Tampa Bay in July or August, not April.

Our point is the air tends to be comfortable this time of year with not enough juice to trigger daily storms. Additionally, cold fronts become much less frequent as April goes on and without fronts, rain chances are minimal.

 

Tampa's average rainfall for the entire month of April is only 2.03 inches. Of course, the exact amount varies year to year with some years producing much more rain while others produce none. There have been two years on record (since 1890) in which Tampa received no measurable April rainfall. 

On the other hand, there have been some years that produced more rain in April than the peak of the rainy season. It just depends on the overall weather pattern. 

Just last year, Tampa had one of its wettest Aprils on record with an impressive 6.73 inches of rain. April 2020 started off very dry but toward the end, a series of fronts moved through sparking widespread rain and severe weather. 

Storms produced an EF-0 tornado in Homosassa Springs on April 20 that tracked more than seven miles. Then one week later, another line of storms moved through dumping 2.37 inches of rain in Tampa. To put that in perspective, Tampa received more than an entire month's worth of rain on just April 30, pushing April 2020 to the 4th-wettest April on record.

39 tornado warnings have been issued across the state so far this week! This includes the two from this morning around Tampa Bay. It sure has been a busy week across the Sunshine State. #FLwx #Severe

Posted by Spectrum Bay News 9 Weather on Friday, April 24, 2020

As of the first week of April, Tampa is experiencing a rainfall deficit of more than 2 inches so far this year. While some may be concerned about minor drought conditions, don't be. We can easily make up the deficit with just one day of tropical downpours in June and July.

There is no need to be concerned about the rain deficit or drought-like conditions until we receive very little rain during the rainy season. Right now, it's the dry season and April is supposed to be dry!