The County Line wildfire, likely caused by arson, developed near the Baker and Columbia county line in the Osceola National Forest on April 5th. On April 7, the fire had burned 4752 acres.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS JAX wrote it up.
The County Line wildfire, likely caused by arson, developed near the Baker and Columbia county line in the Osceola National Forest on April 5th. On April 7, the fire had burned 4752 acres. The fire caused heavy smoke along Interstate 10, and along State Road 100 between Lake City and Lake Butler on April 8th midday. On the 10th, the fire has burned about 25,000 acres. By the 11th, the fire had burned about 35,000 acres. Smoke from the fire caused visibility restrictions below 1 mile along Interstate 10 during the afternoon and evening between Macclenny and Jacksonville. By the 19th, the fire was about 80% contained.
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 Apr 4, 9:20 PM EST, 2 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL 1020 PM EDT WED APR 4 2012 .UPDATE...ISOLATED CONVECTION HAS WEAKENED AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO DISSIPATE THIS EVENING WITH LOSS OF HEATING. MCS OVER THE EASTERN GULF WILL CONTINUE TO DROP SE TOWARDS S FL...ONLY EFFECTS SHOULD BE TO INCREASE HIGH CLOUDINESS OVER OUR AREA. WILL LOWER POPS TO SLIGHT CHANCE OR NIL FOR THIS EVENING. SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER FOR TOMORROW AS STRONG SHORT WAVE AHEAD OF UPPER SOUTHERN PLAINS LOW SWINGS ACROSS THE SE. STRONG WINDS AND HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE STRONGER STORMS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. && .AVIATION... VFR WILL GENERALLY PREVAIL FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS. ANY CONVECTION THROUGH THIS EVENING WILL BE ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED AND WILL NOT MENTION. WITH A SHORTWAVE PASSING TO THE NORTH...ENOUGH LIFT WILL BE PRESENT TO LIMIT FOG FORMATION. WILL USE A PERIOD OF MVFR FOR GNV 09-13Z...OTHERWISE NO FOG EXPECTED TNGT. A GREATER CHANCE OF SHWRS/TSTMS TOMORROW AFTN WITH A MORE POTENT SHORTWAVE...WILL USE VCTS FOR NOW UNTIL SPECIFICS CAN BE BETTER DETERMINED. && .MARINE... WINDS HAVE INCREASED ACROSS THE OUTER WATERS TO 15 KT OR SO. HAVE UPDATED FCST FOR EXERCISE CAUTION THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHWRS/TSTMS THURSDAY AFTN COULD PRODUCE LOCALLY ROUGH CONDITIONS. WINDS INCREASE LATE THU NIGHT INTO FRI AS SFC LOW APPROACHES GA. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES ARE EXPECTED FRI THROUGH SUNDAY DUE TO INCREASED NLY WINDS AND ELEVATED SEAS UP TO 11 FT WELL OFFSHORE. RIP CURRENTS: MODERATE RISK THROUGH THURSDAY DUE TO EASTERLY SWELLS OF 2-3 FT WITH 11 SECOND PERIODS. ANTICIPATE A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS FRI INTO SATURDAY DUE TO INCREASED ONSHORE FLOW. && .JAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...NONE. GA...NONE. AM...NONE. && ZIBURA/ALLEN/KEEGAN
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL 815 PM EDT WED APR 4 2012 AMZ450-452-454-470-472-474-FLZ020>025-030>033-035>038-040- GAZ132>136-149>154-162>166-050815- ALTAMAHA SOUND GA TO FERNANDINA BEACH FL OUT 20 NM- FERNANDINA BEACH TO ST AUGUSTINE FL OUT 20 NM- ST AUGUSTINE TO FLAGLER BEACH FL OUT 20 NM- ALTAMAHA SOUND GA TO FERNANDINA BEACH FL 20 NM TO 60 NM OFFSHORE- FERNANDINA BEACH TO ST AUGUSTINE FL 20 NM TO 60 NM OFFSHORE- ST AUGUSTINE TO FLAGLER BEACH FL 20 NM TO 60 NM OFFSHORE-HAMILTON- SUWANNEE-COLUMBIA-BAKER-NASSAU-DUVAL-UNION-BRADFORD-CLAY-ST JOHNS- GILCHRIST-ALACHUA-PUTNAM-FLAGLER-MARION-COFFEE-JEFF DAVIS-BACON- APPLING-WAYNE-ATKINSON-WARE-PIERCE-BRANTLEY-INLAND GLYNN- COASTAL GLYNN-ECHOLS-CLINCH-CHARLTON-INLAND CAMDEN-COASTAL CAMDEN- 815 PM EDT WED APR 4 2012 THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST FLORIDA...SOUTHEAST GEORGIA...AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON INTO EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. STRONG TO ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AT TIMES WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL...LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. AN ELEVATED RISK OF RIP CURRENTS IS EXPECTED INTO THE WEEKEND. .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. MKT/MZ
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The County Line fire in the Osceola National Forest burned about 35,000 acres from April 4th through the 19th. Significant visibility restrictions occurred from the fire across NE Florida as well as poor breathing conditions.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, April 2012
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: 372440.