Dry Spring=Severe Fire Season

[boca]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... -headlines

This year should rival the 1998 fire season

[gatorcane]

hmmm....I think it is too early to say it will rival 1998. If we are without rain still in 2 months from now I will say there is a chance.

[jdray]

Still have a long way to go to rival 1998.

I almost got caught up in a huge fire that year in Clay County. We were coming back from Tampa so we went US301 way.

Cutting through down Blanding Blvd, huge fire, detour to CR220.
CR220 gets a major fire going quickly, deupties are redirecting people down to another road, another fire, it jumps the road, quickly sparks fires all around. Had fire surrounding about 300 degrees around, only one road to get out and it was getting backed up. Luckily we all made it, but some homes didnt.

It was insane to watch how quickly those fires exploded. At one point, I95 south of Jacksonville and I-10 west of Jacksonville were closed due to fires.


http://www.flagleremergency.com/er/KBDIindex.asp
Only Broward, Hendy and Palm Beach are even under a burn ban with the drought index. (anything over 500 means burn ban) We still have a longgggg way to rival 1998.

[feederband]

Lived in Deltona in 1998....It seem like the smoke filled the air for a month....We had fires all around us....Pepsi 400 got postponed till October...The thunderstorms were full of lighting very little rain....I remember driving on I95 to St. Augustine....Fires on both sides of the road and media but road still open...I heard they closed it about 30 minutes after we drove though it...


I forget what day but the winds started to act up and the fires we all the sudden every where...The evacuated a whole county I could be wrong but I think it was Flagler..

Hope we dont see a repeat...But as dry as it is and so many dead fallen trees do to the canes it could be bad...

[AussieMark]

I remember the Sydney fires of 1993/94

I hate fires

Widespread severe bushfires occurred as extreme weather conditions began to develop along the NSW eastern seaboard from the Queensland border to Batemans Bay in the south, and as far inland as Bathurst.

In excess of 800 fires started between 27 December 1993 and 16 January 1994. Ultimately over 800,000 hectares were burnt. 204 significant bushfires were burning at the height of the crisis. Worst-affected areas were the Hunter, Blue Mountains and Sydney regions.

The most serious losses occurred in fires in the Sydney region, in particular at Jannali and West Como, where about half of the total homes lost in the State were destroyed. Two fire-fighters and two civilians died. One of the civilians was a woman who sheltered in a swimming pool at Jannali, but died of airway burns due to the intense heat of the air she was breathing.

A total of 225 buildings were destroyed and about 150 homes were damaged, varying from minor to serious. Also thousands of small insurance claims were lodged for minor damage (eg smoke damage to soft furnishings) or food spoilage due to lack of refrigeration caused by widespread blackouts. Approximately 27,250 people evacuated - 20,000 fire-fighters deployed from across Australia and New Zealand for over three weeks as hot westerly winds persisted. Some 40 national parks were affected.

[SouthFloridawx]

Still have a long way to go to rival 1998.

I almost got caught up in a huge fire that year in Clay County. We were coming back from Tampa so we went US301 way.

Cutting through down Blanding Blvd, huge fire, detour to CR220.
CR220 gets a major fire going quickly, deupties are redirecting people down to another road, another fire, it jumps the road, quickly sparks fires all around. Had fire surrounding about 300 degrees around, only one road to get out and it was getting backed up. Luckily we all made it, but some homes didnt.

It was insane to watch how quickly those fires exploded. At one point, I95 south of Jacksonville and I-10 west of Jacksonville were closed due to fires.


http://www.flagleremergency.com/er/KBDIindex.asp
Only Broward, Hendy and Palm Beach are even under a burn ban with the drought index. (anything over 500 means burn ban) We still have a longgggg way to rival 1998.

50 560 4 ( 202 / 695) PALM_BEACH

[Scorpion]

98 was horrible. Hottest and driest summer I ever experienced in Florida. Smoke was in the air alot.

[TexasStooge]

I remember the Sydney fires of 1993/94

I hate fires

Don't we all?

The wildfire situation here is worst than the 1995-96 period.

[feederband]

Seems like the wind is picking up...I hope nothing sparks one off..

[gatorcane]

much colder weather and some decent rain chances are on the way:

000
FXUS62 KMFL 200800
AFDMFL

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
230 AM EST MON MAR 20 2006

.DISCUSSION...BACK IN THE WARM AIR TODAY AS BASICALLY HIGH PRESSURE
IS OVER THE AREA. THE STORM IN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS SHOULD MOVE EAST
TODAY AND START TO BRING ITS COLD FRONT OUR WAY. THIS FRONT IS THE
ONE THAT SHOULD IN OUR ZONES ON WEDNESDAY AND BECOME STATIONARY
UNDER THE STRONG UPPER RIDGE THAT REMAINS OVER THE CARIBBEAN AND
GULF OF MEXICO. NOT A LOT OF SUPPORT WITH THIS FRONT SO DO NOT
EXPECT MUCH IN THE WAY OF RAIN WHEN IT MOVES OVER US ON WEDNESDAY.
WE CONTINUE TO EXPECT A SMALL FRONTAL WAVE TO DEVELOP ON IT ON
THURSDAY AND THEN MOVE EAST INTO THE ATLANTIC ON FRIDAY AND DEEPEN.
THIS LOW SHOULD BE STRONG ENOUGH TO MOVE THE COLD FRONT THROUGH OUR
ZONES AND INTO THE BAHAMAS ON FRIDAY. IT SHOULD ALSO BE STRONG
ENOUGH TO GIVE US OUR BEST CHANCE OF RAIN IN QUITE SOME TIME.
DEPENDING ON THE FINAL MOTION OF THE FORECAST WAVE THIS SHOULD NOW
BE LATE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. ONCE THIS FRONT HAS PASSED WE WILL
HAVE THE COLDER AIR THAT HAS BEEN OVER THE EASTERN U.S. MOVE INTO
OUR ZONES AND REMAIN UNDER A RELATIVELY LARGE SURFACE HIGH. THIS
AIR WILL HAVE HAD SEVERAL DAYS TO MODIFY BEFORE IT GETS HERE HOWEVER
WE SHOULD DEFINITELY NOTICE A CHANGE WITH THE MINIMUMS GETTING INTO
THE FORTIES OVER THE INTERIOR.

[Dr. Jonah Rainwater]

The fire season in Texas is essentially over. It rained all weekend, topped off with a 24-hour rain total over 6 inches just for Sunday.

[wxwatcher91]

yeah New England is going from a record wet fall into a fire-danger spring. red flag warnings for CT, RI and parts of MA

[terstorm1012]

yeah New England is going from a record wet fall into a fire-danger spring. red flag warnings for CT, RI and parts of MA

It's been dry down here too, we had Red Flags up all weekend and much of last week.

These storms that come through are bringing VERY DRY WINDS behind them I've noticed. I hope it doesn't keep up for the summer...

[southerngale]

The fire season in Texas is essentially over. It rained all weekend, topped off with a 24-hour rain total over 6 inches just for Sunday.

Texas is huge and that's true for some, but not here. It looked promising, but most of it fizzled before it got here. 0.13" here and with a lot of wildfires in the area since last week, some too close to my house for comfort, this non-event down here hasn't exactly helped matters. And this system was our big chance. No rain in the forecast either.

[cctxhurricanewatcher]

The fire season in Texas is essentially over. It rained all weekend, topped off with a 24-hour rain total over 6 inches just for Sunday.

If the DFW area is all of of Texas, then you are correct in the very short term. The further you get down I 35, the less rain fell. Places south of San Antonio have not had a good rain since September. At my home on the Northwest side of Corpus, I've had .10 inch of rain since November. Unfortunately most of the state did not participate in your rain. And you better hope you have some follow up rain because all your vegetation is going to grow now, but if if gets dry again (which the long term forecasts suggest) it will be prime fuel for more fires. See California for a prime example . Plus don't forget 100+ degree temps are around the corner too.

[Patrick99]

98 was horrible. Hottest and driest summer I ever experienced in Florida. Smoke was in the air alot.

The smoke was not as much of a problem this far south, but I agree - that was one hot summer. The thunderstorms in the afternoon just never really seemed to get going with any great coverage. You depend on those storms to cool things down...a Florida summer day in which the sun stays out the entire day is just unbearable.

I don't believe this season will rival 1998. It's been dry, but not abnormally so - March, April, and 1/2 of May usually are quite dry. Let's see what happens in the second half of May and June. If we are still lacking for rain, then we're in trouble.

[southerngale]

The entire Texas coast is in a severe drought. And with the big rains falling apart and neglecting us yesterday and no chance of rain through at least Saturday, I'm afraid there will be more fires around here.

[cctxhurricanewatcher]

Yep, the fire season is over in Texas.

RED FLAG WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
904 AM CST TUE MAR 21 2006

TXZ231>234-241>247-212100-
/O.NEW.KCRP.FW.W.0018.060321T1504Z-060321T2100Z/
LIVE OAK-BEE-GOLIAD-VICTORIA-JIM WELLS-KLEBERG-NUECES-
SAN PATRICIO-ARANSAS-REFUGIO-CALHOUN-
904 AM CST TUE MAR 21 2006

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM CST THIS AFTERNOON FOR
LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS ACROSS THE
COASTAL BEND AND VICTORIA CROSSROADS...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A RED
FLAG WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM CST THIS AFTERNOON.

WINDS WILL INCREASE OUT OF THE NORTHEAST LATE THIS MORNING ACROSS
THE COASTAL BEND AND VICTORIA CROSSROADS...GUSTING AT TIMES TO 25
MPH. LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY OF 15 TO 25 PERCENT WILL ALSO OCCUR.
THE COMBINATION OF THE GUSTY NORTHEAST WINDS...LOW RELATIVE
HUMIDITY AND VERY DRY FUELS WILL RESULT IN INCREASED FIRE DANGER
TODAY.

IF A WILDFIRE DOES DEVELOP AND ESCAPES AN INITIAL ATTACK...
RESIDENTS ARE ADVISED TO EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY FOR A SAFE ZONE.
MAYORS AND/OR COUNTY JUDGES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO DEMAND
MANDATORY EVACUATIONS WITHIN TEXAS.

PLEASE ADVISE THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS AND FIRE CREWS IN THE
FIELD OF THIS RED FLAG WARNING.

[JonathanBelles]

we finally got rain today