Name: Drought in Florida, February 24 to 28, 2009
Start: 2009-02-24T07:00
End: 2009-02-28T23:59
Location: Florida

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 10 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: 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 MFL wrote it up.

The driest winter on record in many locations triggered the onset of severe drought conditions over southeast Florida.

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 Feb 24, 6:18 AM EST, 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 24, 6:18 AM EST, 42 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
618 AM EST TUE FEB 24 2009

.AVIATION...A LAND BREEZE IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE UNTIL AN HOUR OR
TWO AFTER SUNRISE ALONG BOTH COASTS THIS MORNING. WINDS WILL THEN
BECOME NE EVERYWHERE. MOSTLY VFR CONDITIONS ARE ALSO EXPECTED
THROUGH THE PERIOD, ALTHOUGH AN OCCASIONAL CEILING OF 3 TO 4KFT
WILL BE POSSIBLE.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 555 AM EST TUE FEB 24 2009/

UPDATE...A QUICK TO MENTION A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS EAST COAST.
DOPPLER RADAR AND SAT IMAGES SHOWED ISOLD LIGHT SHOWERS DEVELOPING
RIGHT ALONG THE EAST COAST FROM JUPITER INLET SOUTH TO KEY BISCAYNE.
EXPECT THESE SHOWERS TO BE MOSTLY LIGHT AND OF SHORT DURATION WITH
NO SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS. REST OF THE FORECAST PACKAGE STILL ON
TRACK.

RGH

...........................PREVIOUS DISCUSSION..................

SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY...RIDGING AT BOTH, THE UPPER LVLS
AND SFC, WILL KEEP THE LOCAL AREA UNDER MOSTLY DRY CONDITIONS. A
FEW PATCHES OF CLOUDS/MOISTURE MAY BE ADVECTED WESTWARD BY A NE/E
FLOW ARND THE BASE OF A TRANSIENT SFC RIDGE OVER THE WRN ATLANTIC,
HOWEVER THE CHANCES FOR RAIN WILL BE MINIMAL, NOT SIGNIFICANT
ENOUGH TO BE MENTIONED IN THE FORECAST.

LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY...A LONG WAVE TROUGH WILL DIG
SOUTH ACROSS THE ERN HALF OF THE COUNTRY AND WILL HELP TO PUSH A
COLD FRONT SOUTHEASTWARD TO NRN FLORIDA BY SATURDAY. SOUTHERLY
FLOW AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM COULD RESULT IN MAX AFTERNOON TEMPS
REACHING THE L/M 80S ACROSS INTERIOR AREAS BOTH SAT AND SUN.
SEVERAL WEAK/MODERATE PERTURBATIONS MOVING EAST AROUND THE BASE OF
THE TROUGH MAY BE STRONG ENOUGH TO PUSH THE FRONT TO CENTRAL
FLORIDA SUNDAY AND TO JUST NORTH OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE MONDAY BEFORE
THE LONG WAVE TROUGH MOVES EASTWARD LEAVING THE FRONT TO STALL
JUST NORTH OF THE LOCAL AREA. HIGHER MOISTURE CONTENT AND
DIVERGING FLOW ALOFT COULD RESULT IN ISOLD/SCT SHWRS DEVELOPING
OVER MAINLAND SOUTH FLORIDA AS THE BOUNDARY APPROACHES SUNDAY AND MONDAY.

MARINE...NE WINDS TODAY AT 10 TO 15 KTS WL RESULT IN SEAS
BUILDING TO ARND 6 FT IN THE GULF STREAM. HOWEVER, MARINE
CONDITIONS SHOULD IMPROVE TONIGHT AS THE SFC FLOW BEGINS TO SHIFT
TO EAST. PLEASANT MARINE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FOR THE REST OF
THE FORECAST PACKAGE.

FIRE WEATHER...ALTHOUGH DRIER CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE, MIN RH
VALUES ARE STILL EXPECTED TO REMAIN ABOVE CRITICAL LVLS.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
WEST PALM BEACH  73  59  72  62 / 10 -  -  10
FORT LAUDERDALE  73  62  73  62 / 10 -  -  10
MIAMI            75  61  75  61 / -  -  -  10
NAPLES           76  55  77  56 / 0 0 -  -

&&

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

LONG TERM...47/RHG
SHORT TERM/AVIATION...04/AT

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 24, 3:31 AM EST, 3 hours 29 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTH FLORIDA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
331 AM EST TUE FEB 24 2009

FLZ063-066>075-168-172>174-242345-
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-
331 AM EST TUE FEB 24 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH FLORIDA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

RIP CURRENTS: NORTHEAST WINDS OF 10 TO 15 KNOTS WILL CREATE A
SLIGHT RISK OF RIP CURRENTS ALONG THE ATLANTIC BEACHES OF PALM
BEACH, BROWARD, AND MIAMI DADE COUNTIES THROUGH TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

A GENERAL EAST FLOW AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS WILL KEEP AT LEAST A SLIGHT
RISK OF RIP CURRENTS THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK ALONG THE EAST
COAST BEACHES.

.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

10 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Coastal Palm Beach County

When: February 24, 7:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Coastal Palm Beach County forecast zone
Reported by: Other Federal Agency
Coordinates: 26.648, -80.436 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The driest winter on record over many locations in southeast Florida led to the onset of severe drought (D2) conditions. At Miami International Airport, winter season rainfall was only 0.74 inches, making it the driest winter on record. At Fort Lauderdale, winter season rainfall was only 0.39 inches, also the driest on record. At West Palm Beach, the winter season rainfall was 2.01 inches, the second driest on record.