11/23/2015 6:11 AM
Michael,
Not for South Florida, but north central Florida.
As you know after living here, although we may average 40" during the summer months, it is not uncommon to receive a few inches out of one rain event, skip a few days, then receive a few more inches. Looking at 2015, from June-August, we had 36 rain events totaling 19.61" - pretty dry for us. Some of these events were less than .10". With the sandy soils we have here on the Candler/Apopka ridgeline and possible ET rates of around .20-.25"/day in the summer, it does not take long for a few inches of rainfall to disappear. We typically say that any rainfall received over a .50" doesn't count and is treated as a max of .50", and you may as well plan on irrigating the next day at least for a few minutes. This holds especially true in areas that are weakened from Nematode pressure. Hence a lot of use of the TDR moisture meters and dragging hoses.
And yes, receiving this rainfall at 3:00pm is difficult, especially when the sun comes right back out. However, it is kind of nice to know you can sleep better that night knowing you don't have to worry about the water running.