Geography Played A Role In 2024 Weather Records

When meteorologists discuss scattered showers, they are not kidding.
The weather records compiled by the National Weather Service from 2024 are striking in illustrating this.
It was most obvious when it came to rainfall.
The 73.18 inches recorded in Lakeland made it the second wettest since recordkeeping began in 1915. That made the flooding related in part to a series of hurricanes, reported in low-lying areas around town understandable.
However in central Polk Conty in Winter Haven. the total was 48.02 inches, the 38th wettest since 1941,
In Bartow, where records date to 1892, the 53.82 inches ranked 58th wettest
When it came to average annual temperature, it was the fourth warmest in Winter Haven, sixth warmest in Lakeland and the seventh warmest in Bartow.
Figures were still incomplete for Wauchula, but it does not seem any records will be broken or approached.