Wildfire in Florida, December 21 to 24, 2010

Name: Wildfire in Florida, December 21 to 24, 2010
Start: 2010-12-21T00:00
End: 2010-12-24T00:00
Location: Florida

December 21 to 24, 2010 · NWS JAX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

S. Highway 301 near Island Grove.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 JAX wrote it up.

A wildfire stared in the Lochloosa Wildlife Conservation Area on December 21st and burned an area north of Alachua County Road 325 and west of U.S. Highway 301 near Island Grove. Dry conditions and shifting winds caused the fire to propagate through the end of the month, and flames threatened homes near Cross Creek. On Dec. 24th,the fire had burned 2,740 acres.

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 Jacksonville, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 20, 10:10 PM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 20, 10:10 PM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
1010 PM EST MON DEC 20 2010

.FIRE WEATHER UPDATE...AFTER ADJUSTING DEW PTS FOR TONIGHT AND
TUESDAY...OPTED TO ISSUE FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR INLAND NE FLORIDA
DUE TO SUB-CRITICAL RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES BELOW 35% FOR 3-4
HOURS. IF DRIER AIR MIXES DOWN ON TUESDAY...RHS COULD FALL FURTHER
SO FELT A WATCH WAS WARRANTED.

*********** PREVIOUS 929 PM EST DISCUSSION ***************

...FREEZE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR INLAND NE FL...

.UPDATE...HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN SITUATED OVER THE AREA THROUGH
TUESDAY. LIGHT FREEZE STILL EXPECTED TONIGHT OVER MOST OF THE INLAND
AREAS ALONG WITH AREAS OF FROST. HIGHS CLOUDS MOVING RAPIDLY OVER
THE AREA EXPECTED TO THIN OUT ENOUGH TONIGHT TO ALLOW FOR RADIATIONAL
COOLING.

&&

.AVIATION...VFR CONDITIONS ARE FORECAST THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING.

&&

.MARINE...DATA BUOY OBS INDICATE SEAS HAVE BEEN GRADUALLY DECREASING
AND ARE RUNNING AROUND 4 TO 6 FEET OFFSHORE. WILL LET THE SCA FOR
SEAS EXPIRE AT 10 PM.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
AMG  29  63  46  69 /   0   0  10  10
SSI  35  61  47  66 /   0   0   0  10
JAX  31  63  44  71 /   0   0   0   0
SGJ  36  63  47  70 /   0   0   0   0
GNV  31  66  42  72 /   0   0   0   0
OCF  32  67  43  73 /   0   0   0   0

&&

.JAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...FREEZE WARNING FROM 2 AM TO 9 AM EST TUESDAY FOR ALACHUA-BAKER-
     BRADFORD-CLAY-COLUMBIA-DUVAL-GILCHRIST-HAMILTON-MARION-
     NASSAU-PUTNAM-SUWANNEE-UNION.

     FIRE WEATHER WATCH TUESDAY AFTERNOON FOR ALACHUA-BAKER-BRADFORD-
     CLAY-COLUMBIA-DUVAL-GILCHRIST-HAMILTON-MARION-NASSAU-PUTNAM-
     SUWANNEE-UNION.

GA...NONE.
AM...NONE.
&&

PETERSON/ENYEDI

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 20, 1:43 PM EST, 10 hours 17 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
143 PM EST MON DEC 20 2010

FLZ020>025-030>033-035>038-040-GAZ132>136-149>154-162>166-211100-
ALACHUA-APPLING-ATKINSON-BACON-BAKER-BRADFORD-BRANTLEY-
CAMDEN (COASTAL)-CAMDEN (INLAND)-CHARLTON-CLAY-CLINCH-COFFEE-
COLUMBIA-DUVAL-ECHOLS-FLAGLER-GILCHRIST-GLYNN (COASTAL)-
GLYNN (INLAND)-HAMILTON-JEFF DAVIS-MARION-NASSAU-PIERCE-PUTNAM-
ST JOHNS-SUWANNEE-UNION-WARE-WAYNE-
143 PM EST MON DEC 20 2010

THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST FLORIDA AND SOUTHEAST GEORGIA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

...FREEZE WARNING TONIGHT AND TUESDAY MORNING FOR MUCH OF INLAND
NORTHEAST FLORIDA...

ANOTHER NIGHT OF COLD TEMPERATURES IS ON TAP WITH INLAND AREAS
ONCE AGAIN LIKELY BELOW THE FREEZING MARK. FURTHER DETAILS CAN BE
FOUND IN THE URGENT WEATHER MESSAGE. THE COMBINATION OF COLD
TEMPERATURES AND LIGHT WINDS WILL FAVOR FROST DEVELOPMENT ACROSS MUCH
OF THE AREA.

DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON PROMPTING A RED
FLAG WARNING FOR MOST OF NORTHEAST FLORIDA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...

THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM APPEARS SLATED FOR EARLY NEXT WEEKEND NEAR
THE CHRISTMAS EVE TIME-FRAME. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS TO BE A WEAK
SYSTEM WITH RAIN CHANCES REMAINING PRIMARILY OVER THE GEORGIA
PORTION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED AT THIS TIME.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
IN JACKSONVILLE WEBSITE ON THE INTERNET AT WEATHER.GOV/JAX.

ECZ

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Alachua

When: December 21, 12:00 AM EST to December 24, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Alachua forecast zone
Reported by: Park/Forest Service

A wildfire consumed at least 2,740 acres in the Lochloosa Wildlife Conservation Area.

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

Every storm in Florida in 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, December 2010

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: 266541.