Florida, 2001

Wildfire in Florida, May 23, 2001

May 23, 2001 · NWS TBW · 10 events in 10 counties and zones

Smoke, from a major wildfire in Dixie and Lafayette counties in North Florida, spread south along the West Central Florida coast and reduced visibility to between one and three miles with isolated pockets of one quarter mile or less.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
10

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS TBW wrote it up.

Smoke, from a major wildfire in Dixie and Lafayette counties in North Florida, spread south along the West Central Florida coast and reduced visibility to between one and three miles with isolated pockets of one quarter mile or less.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Tampa Bay, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 23, 1:27 PM EST, 2 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 1:27 PM EST, 2 hours 33 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
227 PM EDT WED MAY 23 2001

A TALE OF TWO AREAS BEST SUMS UP THE FCST THROUGH THE END OF THE
WEEK.  FOR RESIDENTS OF SARASOTA/HIGHLANDS CO S...YOULL CONTINUE
TO HAVE THE BEST PROSPECTS FOR CLOUDS AND RAINFALL.  THOSE ON THE
NATURE COAST WILL EXPERIENCE MORE DRY WX.  IN BETWEEN...ITLL START
DRY BUT MOISTEN UP GRADUALLY BY FRI.

NGM/ETA ARE IN NEAR PERFECT AGREEMENT WITH ALL FACTORS.  THE AVN
CONTINUES TO SPIN UP ANOMOLOUS (ERRONEOUS?) WAVES ALONG THE
SUBTROPICAL JET...EACH MOVING THROUGH THE BAHAMAS AND TAKING THE
BEST MOISTURE WITH THEM.  WILL CONTINUE TO DISREGARD...AND GO WITH
THE NGM/ETA SOLUTION.

SHORT TERM:
THROUGH THURS NIGHT...THE N 2/3 SHOULD REMAIN HIGH AND DRY.  TEMPS
WILL DROP OFF A BIT OVER THE NATURE COAST AT NIGHT...BUT REBOUND
NICELY THURS AFTERNOON.  THE S 2/3 SHOULD DRY OUT TONIGHT...BUT
WILL RETAIN SLIGHT CHANCE ON THURSDAY AS INSTABILITY REMAINS
HIGHEST.  BY FRI...MOISTURE BEGINS TO RETURN N...AND UPPER SUPPORT
INCREASES AT H25 JET STREAK NE OF THE STATE GETS REINFORCED.  RR
QUAD FOCUSED ON S FL...AND WILL GRADUATE HIGHEST POPS FROM S TO N
(BUT LEAVE THE NATURE COAST RAIN-FREE FOR NOW).

EXTENDED:
WITH AVN STILL SPINNING UP FEATURES AND DRAGGING MOISTURE E...
PREFER TO LEAN TOWARD LATE MAY CLIMATOLOGY REGARDING TEMPS AND
PRECIP.  WITH SEA BREEZE COLLISIONS DOMINATING...WILL LEAVE SCT PCPN
INTERIOR AND SW AND ISOLD PCPN ELSEWHERE.  TEMPS AT CLIMO VALUES.

MARINE:  QUIET.  NUFF SAID.

FIRE WX:  WITH DWPTS FALLING TO OR BELOW 60 (RH NEARING 35) LATE THIS
AFTN AND AGAIN THU AFTN ACROSS THE NATURE COAST...THE WATCH WILL
REMAIN INTACT.  SMOKE FROM FIRE E OF CTY HAS SNUCK INTO N LEVY CO...
AND WILL HANDLE WITH SHORT TERM FORECASTS.

PRELIM NUMBERS:
TPA UB 067/088/068/088 0103
FMY BW 070/088/072/088 1225 88

.TBW...FIRE WX WATCH FLZ039 UNTIL SUNSET.
    ...FIRE WX WATCH FLZ039-042>043-048 THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

GOLDSMITH

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Levy

When
May 23, 4:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Levy forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Wildfire, Citrus

When
May 23, 4:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Citrus forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Wildfire, Hernando

When
May 23, 4:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Hernando forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Wildfire, Hillsborough

When
May 23, 4:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Hillsborough forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Wildfire, Manatee

When
May 23, 4:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Manatee forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Wildfire, Pasco

When
May 23, 4:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Pasco forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Wildfire, Pinellas

When
May 23, 4:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Pinellas forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
27.903, -82.739 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire, Polk

When
May 23, 4:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Polk forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
27.949, -81.698 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire, Sarasota

When
May 23, 4:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Sarasota forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Wildfire, Sumter

When
May 23, 4:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Sumter forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
28.705, -82.081 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Wildfire
A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Florida in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, May 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5247638, 5247639, 5247640, 5247641, 5247642, 5247643, 5247644, 5247645, 5247646, 5247647.