A low pressure system in the eastern Gulf of Mexico has dropped several inches of rain on Florida in the past few days, just in time for the start of the rainy season.
The National Weather Service this year has designated May 15 as the start of the rainy season.
"This is the first year we’re doing a preset date," said Chuck Caracozza, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami, which covers Collier County. "In previous years we’ve used certain criteria, and this (May 15) was the (historic) average of when we've met that criteria."
The previous NWS formula was to wait for the weather to change to daily rainfall patterns before declaring that the rainy season had started.
In recent years daily rains started in the second week of June.
Now May 15 is the official day.
"It started today," Caracozza said of this wet season. "It's pretty good timing."
The recent rains made up for a precipitation deficit that's been in place since November.
With below-average rainfall each of the past six months, Southwest Florida has seen about half the amount of rain that would fall in a typical dry season, according to South Florida Water Management District records.
Lee and Collier counties, on average, have seen 2.2 inches of rain this month, which is about half-an-inch above average.
Still, only 7.2 inches of rain have fallen here since November, which is still 7 inches below average.
That gap is expected to be further closed in the next few days as measurable rain falls across most of the state.
"We have fairly high rain chances through the weekend, and primarily it’s due to the system in the Gulf of Mexico," said Richard Rude, a meteorologist with NWS in Ruskin, which covers Lee County.
Last summer was the wettest wet season on record, according to the district.
The rainy season produces an average of 40 inches of rain in Southwest Florida, which receives an average of 56 inches or rainfall annually.
Just under 80 inches of rain fell in Southwest Florida last year, according to district records.
The National Hurricane Center is giving the system in the Gulf of Mexico a 10 percent chance of developing into a tropical system.
NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen said a low pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico is not odd for this time of year.
"The areas of development (early in the hurricane season) tend to be the northwest Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico, so this system wasn’t a surprise," Feltgen said. "But we’re still going to see rain, and that’s a good thing because we need it."
Feltgen said the hurricane center has no plans to change the tropical season.
"Ninety-six, 97 percent of tropical activity occurs June 1 through Nov. 30, but we’ve had tropical systems developed in every month outside of that, even in January," Feltgen said. "But the official start is two weeks from Friday."
Cape Coral rescinded a burn ban Tuesday that started on May 3.
Connect with this reporter: Chad Gillis on Twitter.