Extremes of Daily Rainfall in West Central Florida

Annual maxima of daily rainfall data dating from 1901 to 2003 are modeled for fourteen locations in West Central Florida. The generalized extreme value (GEV) distribution is fitted to data from each location. The location parameter of the GEV is formulated as a function of time to adequately describe the extremes of rainfall and to predict their future behavior. We find evidence of non-stationarity in the form of trends for eight of the fourteen locations considered. We quantify the change in extreme rainfall for each location and provide return levels for the years 2010, 2020, 2050 and 2100. We also derive estimates of return levels for daily rainfall and provide a classification of the fourteen locations based on the degree of severity of these estimates. This paper provides the first application of extreme value distributions to rainfall data specifically from Florida.