A Summer Day Without Significant Rainfall in South Florida

Abstract

Precipitating cumulus clouds occur regularly in the afternoon over the south Florida peninsula during summer months. A day without significant rainfall or radar echoes is rare. This paper discusses one such day, 23 July 1987, during which a dry, stable airmass covered the Florida peninsula. Nonprecipitating shallow cumulus formed in a few areas, but there were not any deep, precipitating cumulus clouds over land. The thermodynamic characteristics of the airmass are described and the synoptic-scale patterns that produced the airmass are presented.