Daily showers and storms this week sent rainfall totals above normal for May across Volusia and Flagler counties and afternoon thunderstorms and dreary skies are forecast to keep up their daily appearances through next week.
Rain chances range from 50 to 70 percent over the weekend and daily through Tuesday, the National Weather Service said Friday.
Since last Sunday, 3.17 inches of rain has fallen at Daytona Beach International Airport, Weather Service records show. Normal rainfall for the entire month of May in Daytona Beach is 3.13 inches. For the month so far, Daytona Beach has received 3.8 inches of rain.
Even higher rainfall amounts have occurred in isolated locations across Volusia and Flagler counties.
In DeLand, 4.17 inches of rain has fallen this month, nearly 2 inches above normal for the month to date.
In Bunnell, 3.97 inches of rain has fallen since Sunday at Flagler County's Emergency Operations Center, reports Bob Pickering, an emergency services technician. A weather observer in Palm Coast has reported 5.56 inches of rain since May 14.
Florida's spring dry season typically ends in late May, but this year it appears the rainy season began a couple of weeks early after a series of low pressure systems helped bring in tropical moisture.
Pickering said it's the "earliest start to the rainy season I remember in some time."
But it's not the wettest May, he said. "That record is held by 2009." That's the year the official rainfall total in Daytona Beach for seven days between May 17 and May 23 was 20.53 inches.
May 2018 isn't shaping up to be a repeat of May 2009, but an additional three inches of rain is possible across the area during the next five days, with higher amounts in isolated locations, according to an analysis from the national Weather Prediction Center. That much rainfall would leave the area with twice the normal monthly rainfall for May.
Over the weekend, the Weather Service said skies "should remain quite cloudy as considerable moisture will remain in the upper levels" and heavy rain and frequent lightning are forecast to "remain a concern."
The steady clouds and rainfall have helped keep temperatures slightly below normal and that trend also is expected to continue over the next several days. The overall average is 73.1 degrees, .4 degrees below normal. The mercury hasn't risen above 85 degrees in Daytona Beach for the past week.
The rainfall has erased the drought-like conditions in the two county area, according to the updated National Drought Monitor map released on Thursday.
On the St. Johns River, where water levels have been very low in recent weeks, the river responded immediately to the heavy rains across the region and has risen several inches this week.
Drought conditions remain in South Florida and Northwest Florida, but so much rain has fallen in parts of South Florida this week the Weather Service reports flood conditions are possible in some areas this weekend. An additional 3-7 inches of rain is possible in parts of South Florida, in addition to the up to 10 inches of rain that fell in the region this week.