After months of minimal to no rain since last December it is
finally raining here at Quest in central Florida, thirty miles west of downtown
Orlando. The green fields of Sheet airfield had turned brown and heavily used
areas have turned to dust.

Our last two flights this week, Tuesday and Wednesday, were marked by heavily
polluted air from nearby fires in the Green Swamp and rigid inversions.

Orlando is experiencing a historic drought:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/weather/os-orlando-drought-for-the-ages-20170511-story.html

With skies hazed by wildfires, lawns so crisp they look flammable
and the St. Johns River stagnant in places, Central Florida’s drought is one for
the ages, measuring by rain gauges as the most pitiless in a century.

From the start of the year through Wednesday, Orlando has had 3.18 inches of
rainfall, according to the National Weather Service. That’s how much was
recorded for the same period in 1907. The driest start on record, through May
10, was 2.64 inches in 1898.

Orlando did not get rain last month and has not had significant rain since
mid-February.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2017/05/05/move-over-california-florida-has-usas-worst-drought/101331462/

http://www.wesh.com/article/drought-conditions-bring-worries-in-central-florida/9640996

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?FL