Florida Burns

Smoky conditions persist across the northern half of the Florida peninsula as wildfire conditions worsen.  Below, a graphic of the massive smoke plumes wafting around Florida this evening.  The smoke is being transported by light breezes and a dry, cool front that meandered into the central peninsula of Florida this afternoon.

There is little to no chance of rain for at least the next week.  Most of Florida is experiencing severe drought conditions so the potential for additional wildfires is high.

Below:  Active wildfires across Florida tonight.

Click on the map for a larger view

The Florida Forestry Service provides graphics to illustrate the fire danger.  The Forest Service uses the Wildland Fire Danger Index (FDI, below) for estimating the potential for a fire to start and require suppression action on any given day.  The index does not consider how quickly any fires that do start will grow, or how difficult they will be to suppress.  The Fire Danger Index for today is Very High to Extreme for all of the central peninsula of Florida.

The smoke has made for some exceptional sun shots lately.  One problem I've encountered is finding a safe place to stop to snap the photos.  Yesterday's smoky sunset was incredible but I had to enjoy it for myself as I could not find a safe place where I could exit traffic and snap the shot.

Above:  The National Interagency Fire Center Predictive Services creates graphics to illustrate the regions of the United States where there is significant fire potential.  Florida remains in the "above normal" category through July 2012 despite the demise of the current La Niña which is considered one of the main causes of the exceptional drought across Florida.

The smoky scene around Gainesville this afternoon.

Above:  The Keetch-Byram drought index (KBDI) is a continuous reference scale for estimating the dryness of the soil and duff layers (decaying plant matter lying on forest floors).  The index increases for each day without rain.  The amount of the daily increase depends on the daily high temperature.  The scale ranges from 0 (wet) to 800 (completely dry).  The range of the index is determined by assuming that there are 8 inches of moisture in a saturated soil that is readily available to vegetation.  The current KBDI for Volusia County is an astonishing 625 (desert-like conditions).  For Seminole County it is worse; 672.  Orange County is currently 660.  Lake County has a KBDI of 655.

In most areas of Florida this is the driest Spring since the 1920s.  It is important to note that in the 1920s there were less than 1,000,000 people living in Florida.  Today Florida is the 4th most populous of the United States with a permanent resident population exceeding 19,000,000.  That 19,000,000 does not include the millions of daily visitors to the state. . . all of them needing water.