Southwest Florida Rain (Encore)

Southwest Florida’s recent bout of dry windy weather has left vegetation and many creek beds dry and created dangerous drought conditions for fire crews as they continue battling several wildfires still burning in the Big Cypress National Preserve.  However, a reprieve could be on the way as weather forecasters are calling for widespread showers and thunderstorms beginning next week.  In anticipation of the return of our subtropical summer rainy season, this week’s encore essay from News-Press storyteller Amy Bennett Williams has her pondering the great variety of rainstorms in our region and how we experience them.