Name: Drought in Florida, February 1 to 29, 2008
Start: 2008-02-01T00:00
End: 2008-02-29T23:59
Location: Florida

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 MFL wrote it up.

Drought conditions continued over most of the interior and southwest sections of South Florida during February.

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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 31, 9:22 PM EST, 2 hours 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 31, 9:22 PM EST, 2 hours 38 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
922 PM EST THU JAN 31 2008

.UPDATE 2...
LOW PRESSURE OVER THE TENNESSEE VALLEY WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE
NORTHEAST TONIGHT TOWARDS THE GREAT LAKES...WHILE HIGH PRESSURE
REMAINS OVER THE WESTERN ATLANTIC WATERS. THIS WILL KEEP THE WINDS
OVER THE EAST COASTAL AREAS AND THE ATLANTIC WATERS AT 15 TO 20
MPH TONIGHT. SO WILL CONTINUE THE SCEC FOR THE ATLANTIC WATERS AND
BISCAYNE BAY...AND THE BREEZY CONDITIONS ALONG THE EAST COASTAL
AREAS OF THE CWA.

FOR REST OF THE CWA...THE IR SATELLITE IMAGES THIS EVENING HAS
BEEN SHOWING SOME CLOUDS DEVELOPING OVER THE ATLANTIC WATERS AND
PUSHING ACROSS THE CWA. THIS SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT...AS
THERE IS A INVERSION AT 5000 FT ON THE MIA EVENING SOUNDING. SO
WILL CONTINUE WITH THE PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES TONIGHT OVER ALL OF THE
CWA.

THIS INVERSION COULD ALSO DROP A LITTLE BIT OVER THE INTERIOR AND
WEST COAST AREAS TONIGHT...AS THE WINDS OVER THIS AREA DROPS TO
BELOW 5 MPH ALLOWING FOR SOME PATCHY FOG TO DEVELOP. SO WILL
CONTINUE WITH THE PATCHY FOG OVER THE INTERIOR AND WEST COAST
AREAS FOR LATE TONIGHT.

&&

.AVIATION...
VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD. BKN050 CLOUDS WILL
PREVAIL AT ALL BUT KAPF OVERNIGHT. WINDS WILL PREVAIL OUT OF THE SE
AT NEAR 10 KT.

&&
UPDATE...54/BNB
AVIATION...57/DG

.PREV UPDATE... /ISSUED 617 PM EST THU JAN 31 2008/

UPDATE...
WINDS LATE THIS AFTERNOON HAVE BEEN 15 TO 20 KNOTS OVER THE
ATLANTIC WATERS AND ALONG THE EAST COASTAL AREAS OF SOUTH FLORIDA.
THIS SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT...AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT
SHOULD REMAIN IN PLACE BETWEEN THE HIGH TO THE EAST AND THE
PASSING LOW TO THE NORTHWEST. SO INCREASE THE WINDS TO SCEC FOR
THE ATLANTIC AND BISCAYNE BAY FOR TONIGHT...AND MADE THE EAST
COASTAL AREAS BREEZY FOR TONIGHT. REST OF THE FORECAST LOOKS GOOD
AT THIS TIME.

&&
UPDATE...54/BNB

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 144 PM EST THU JAN 31 2008/

DISCUSSION...STALLED FRONT OVER CENTRAL FLA TO MOVE NORTHWARD TO
-NIGHT AS A WARM FRONT AS A LOW PRES SYSTEM MOVES NE ACROSS THE SE
U.S. TOWARD NEW ENGLAND. A STRENGTHENING SE WIND FLOW WILL ADVECT
LOTS OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE TOWARD S FLA BUT A CAPPING INVERSION
.DUE TO PERSIST HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT TO THE SE (WHICH STALLED THE
FRONT) PERSISTS. AN INCREASING CLOUD COVER CAN BE EXPECTED THIS
EVENING TO SPREAD FROM SE TO NW ACROSS THE CWA. ON FRI...THE COLD
FRONT TRAILING THE SURFACE LOW MOVING NE WILL MOVE IN TO N FLA
.WEAKEN BUT CONTINUALLY MOVING SE AND INTO S FLA FRI NIGHT...
STALLING SAT. SO SKIES WILL BE RATHER CLOUDY FRI THROUGH SAT NIGHT
BUT DRY STABLE AIR ALOFT LIMITS ANY VERY MINIMAL PRECIPITATION TO
MAINLY OVER THE ATLC WATERS THOUGH A FEW MAY BRUSH THE SE COAST AND
AROUND THE LAKE OKEE AREA WITH THE FRONT. ONLY WEATHER WILL BE OVER
THE ATLC WATERS AT THIS TIME. SOME PATCHY FOG CAN BE EXPECTED INTER
-IOR..ESPECIALLY IN SOME CLOUD-FREE AREAS. MAX/MIN TEMPERATURES WILL
BE ABOVE NORMS FOR THE PERIOD.

EXTENDED PERIOD...SUN THROUGH WED...LOW LEVEL HIGH PRES BUILDS IN
FROM THE SE AND THE STALLED FRONT OVER S FLA SCOOTS NORTHWARD AS A
WARM FRONT. SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS CONTINUE IMPORTING CONTINUED LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE BUT THE DRY STABLE AIR ALOFT CONTINUES TO QUELL ANY
SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION THROUGH TUE...EXCEPT FOR SOME STRAY
SHOWERS ON THE BREEZE AFFECTING THE E COAST. ON WED...ANOTHER COLD
FRONT WILL MOVE INTO S FLA. THE DRY STABLE CAPPING AIR ABATES SOME
AND SOME PRECIPITATION CWA-WIDE POSSIBLE.

AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE PERIOD THOUGH PSBL CEILINGS
4-6KFT MOVING INLAND FROM THE ATLC BY 21Z MAY SPREAD W ACROSS THE
CWA TONIGHT. CLOUD COVER COULD LIMIT BR DEVELOPMENT AND NOT PLACED
IN ANY TAF. VERY LIGHT SHRA PSBL ALG E COAST AND MAY AFFECT E COAST
TERMINALS BUT VCSH WILL NOT BE PLACED IN E COAST TERMINALS AT THIS
TIME.

MARINE...
SE/S WINDS TONIGHT THROUGH FRI MORNING...BECOMING S/SW AHEAD OF THE
FRONT AND N/NE BEHIND THE FRONT FRI NIGHT AND SPREADING ACROSS ALL
THE CWA BY SAT MORNING. WINDS GRADUALLY SHIFT TO THE ESE MON. WIND
SPEEDS GENERALLY 15 KNOTS OR LESS WITH SEAS 4 FEET OR LESS THROUGH
THE PERIOD.

FIRE WEATHER...
NO CONCERNS AS A SLOW INCREASE IN LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE EXPECTED
THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK.

&&

.MFL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...NONE.
AM...NONE.
GM...NONE.
&&

LONG TERM...15/JR
SHORT TERM/AVIATION...60/BD

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 31, 6:20 PM EST, 5 hours 40 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTH FLORIDA...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
620 PM EST THU JAN 31 2008

FLZ063-066>075-168-172>174-011100-
GLADES-HENDRY-INLAND PALM BEACH-METRO PALM BEACH-COASTAL COLLIER-
INLAND COLLIER-INLAND BROWARD-METRO BROWARD-INLAND MIAMI DADE-
METRO MIAMI DADE-MAINLAND MONROE-COASTAL PALM BEACH-COASTAL
BROWARD-COASTAL MIAMI DADE-FAR SOUTH MIAMI DADE-
620 PM EST THU JAN 31 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH FLORIDA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

RIP CURRENTS: A SLIGHT RISK OF RIP CURRENTS WILL CONTINUE ALONG THE
ATLANTIC BEACHES TONIGHT.

NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

RIP CURRENTS WILL CONTINUE TO BE POSSIBLE AT THE ATLANTIC BEACHES,
ESPECIALLY SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY, AS A MODERATE EASTERLY FLOW
REGIME BECOMES ESTABLISHED ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA.

NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

FOR MORE INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN
MIAMI WEBSITE AT WWW.WEATHER.GOV/MIAMI.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Glades

When: February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 29, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Glades forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.957, -81.189 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Near to slightly below normal rainfall was observed over interior and southwestern sections of South Florida during February. Glades County was in an extreme drought (D3) status, while Hendry, western Palm Beach and northern and central Collier counties were in a severe drought (D2) status.

Rainfall totals for the month ranged from 1.5 to 2.5 inches over most of the area, with amounts of 3 to 3.5 inches in the Big Cypress Preserve in Collier County.