Dry and unseasonably warm conditions fueled brush fires. Long term drought conditions were realized across much of NE Florida.
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.
Dry and unseasonably warm conditions fueled brush fires. Long term drought conditions were realized across much of NE Florida.
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 27, 3:42 PM EST, 3 hours 22 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Jacksonville FL 442 PM EDT Thu Apr 27 2017 ...Hot, Breezy and Mostly Dry Conditions to Prevail through the Weekend... .CURRENTLY... Afternoon surface analysis depicts a cold front extending from the Appalachians southward through the western Florida panhandle. Aloft...shortwave troughing continues moving north-northeastward through the western Great Lakes as ridging strengthens over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico. This weather pattern has resulted in a tightening local pressure gradient, with breezy south- southwesterly winds inland and gusty southeasterly winds in coastal locations, which are behind the slowly inland-moving Atlantic sea breeze that will make little progress west of Interstate 95 through late afternoon. A strong inversion delayed the development of a cumulus field over our area until the early to mid afternoon hours, allowing temperatures to climb into the lower 90s at many inland locations, with the sea breeze capping coastal highs generally in the mid 80s earlier this afternoon. The smoke plume from the large West Mims Wildfire is not as pronounced on visible satellite nor Doppler Radar imagery as it has been in prior days. A new brushfire that is readily apparent on KJAX Doppler Radar has been confirmed recently by Bradford County Emergency Management (no details on size at this time). Meanwhile, convection along and ahead of the cold front to our west and northwest is weakening over central Georgia, with just a few showers developing along the boundary in the Florida panhandle. .NEAR TERM /Tonight through Friday/... Convection along the front may still clip locations north and west of a Douglas to Alma line during the early evening hours, but we maintained only isolated to widely scattered POPS early this evening in the forecast grids as most activity will remain just northwest of the Altamaha/Ocmulgee Rivers. SREF probabilities of low stratus ceilings advecting northward from the northeast Gulf of Mexico are increasing, and some patchy fog will also be possible during the predawn hours along the Interstate 75 corridor in our western Georgia and Florida counties. Otherwise, ridging aloft will continue to build northward over our region through Friday, with the axis of Atlantic surface ridging also lifting slowly northward to a position near north central Florida by Friday evening. Deep south-southwest flow will result in warmer low temperatures tonight, with mid to upper 60s forecast area- wide. Smoke from the West Mims Wildfire may advect into areas such as Folkston and Nahunta overnight, and could also possibly impact areas further eastward around Brunswick towards sunrise. Visibilities may be reduced to 2-5 miles in these locations. As the axis of Atlantic surface ridging lifts northward on Friday, our local pressure gradient will continue to loosen. This will allow the Atlantic sea breeze to move inland more quickly than today, which should keep coastal highs generally in the mid 80s, where gusty onshore winds will prevail throughout the afternoon hours. The sea breeze should move past the I-95 corridor by mid- afternoon, and there may be just enough low level moisture in place to touch off one or two showers or brief thunderstorms along the U.S. Highway 301 corridor by late afternoon, mainly over northeast and north central Florida. Otherwise, hot temperatures will prevail as a southerly breeze slowly increases during the afternoon hours. Near record highs will be possible inland, as low to mid 90s are forecast. .SHORT TERM.../Friday night through Sunday/... Light to moderate southerly flow will continue over the region with a fairly strong deep layer high pressure system located off the southeast U.S. coast. This will continue to produce dry and stable conditions due to strong subsidence aloft. The mid level high starts to shift further eastward late Sat night through late Sunday as a large mid to upper level trough shifts east to northeast from the MS valley. Most of the energy starts to lift off to the northeast late Sunday through Sunday night toward the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes. South to southeast flow will increase on Saturday as Atlantic Sea breeze becomes strong owing to above normal temps...rising to lower 90s inland...bit cooler at the coast. Min temps only in upper 60s to near 70 Sat night. Highs again hit about 90 inland Sunday...cooler at the coast from aftn sea breeze. Models differ on the timing of the front moving into the region late Sunday night. For now will go with low chances for showers and t-storms for our northwest zones. .LONG TERM.../Monday-Thursday/... A change in the pattern starts to take place as general troughing takes hold over the ern U.S. The first front associated with trailing shortwave trough will push into the area Monday and Monday night bringing our first decent shot of showers and thunderstorms during the past 3 weeks. Unfortunately, this does not look like a widespread wetting rain as models disagree on the dynamics and moisture at this point. The GFS moves the front through our forecast area and well south of the area by Tuesday ushering in dry air rapidly which seems a little questionable. The Euro model continues to want to stall it somewhere around north central FL...so there continues to be significant uncertainty at this time range. Both do agree we could see a better shot of showers and thunderstorms later in the week as a significant mid/upper level trough moves into the MS valley and associated sfc low pressure moving through the ern U.S. At this time we show rain chances increasing Wed-Thu as this next cold frontal system moves into the southeast states. While this next system seems a little promising for much needed rain based on the GFS 12z run...it's too early to tell how much, if any significant rainfall we will get. && .AVIATION... VFR conditions will prevail at the regional terminals through at least 06Z. Breezy southerly surface winds will prevail through sunset at GNV and VQQ, with sustained speeds of 10-15 knots with frequent gusts to 20 knots. The Atlantic sea breeze has moved past SGJ, SSI, and CRG, where southeasterly winds are sustained near 15 knots and are frequently gusting to 25 knots. The sea breeze will reach JAX between 21Z-22Z, with winds shifting to southeasterly as this boundary moves slowly westward. Smoke from the ongoing West Mims wildfire may begin to impact SSI after 09Z, with a low confidence in MVFR visibilities at SSI during the predawn hours on Friday. A low stratus deck is expected to move inland from the northeast Gulf of Mexico overnight, with MVFR to IFR ceilings possible at GNV towards 09Z. A lower confidence in a brief period of MVFR ceilings exists at the Duval County terminals and SGJ around sunrise on Friday. VFR conditions should again prevail after 13Z, with a low chance that SSI will be impacted by the smoke plume thereafter, which is not reflected in the current TAFs. && .MARINE... A tight local pressure will prevail through this evening, and Small Craft should exercise Caution if venturing into the offshore waters, where southerly winds of 15-20 knots are expected. Seas offshore should remain in the 3-5 foot range through Saturday. Winds in the near shore waters will be near caution levels early this evening, but will subside overnight as our local pressure gradient relaxes as frontal boundary stalls well to the northwest of our local waters. The axis of Atlantic ridging begins to lift northward from the Florida peninsula this weekend. Winds will remain south-southeasterly through Saturday night, with speeds remaining just below caution levels both in the near shore and offshore waters through Saturday. The next cold front on the horizon will move through the lower Mississippi Valley on Sunday, causing our local pressure gradient to gradually tighten late this weekend. Southerly winds will strengthen to caution levels on Saturday night and will continue through Sunday for both the near shore and offshore waters. Winds and seas are expected to reach Small Craft Advisory levels in the offshore waters on Sunday night as the cold front approaches our waters from the west. This front will likely stall over our coastal waters by Monday night, with wind speeds diminishing by early Tuesday. Rip Currents: A moderate risk is possible from Friday through the weekend due to persistent south-southeast winds combined with a strong southerly longshore current. && .FIRE WEATHER...Warm and dry conditions with breezy southerly winds expected each day through the weekend. Elevated dispersions expected rest of today and again on Saturday mainly inland zones. RH values expected to bottom out in the lower to mid 30s inland today and mid/upper 30s on Friday and Saturday. Strong Atlantic sea breezes will push inland today through Saturday in the afternoon hours. && .CLIMATE... Record highs at our designated climate sites for Friday, April 28: Jacksonville 94/1991 Gainesville 95/1991 Alma 92/1970 St. Simons Island 92/1985 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... AMG 66 92 68 91 / 0 10 10 10 SSI 71 84 73 83 / 0 10 10 10 JAX 67 92 70 90 / 0 10 10 10 SGJ 69 86 74 85 / 0 10 10 10 GNV 66 94 67 92 / 0 20 10 10 OCF 66 95 68 92 / 0 20 10 10 && .JAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...None. GA...None. AM...None. && Nelson/Shashy/McGinnis
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Jacksonville FL 321 AM EDT Thu Apr 27 2017 AMZ450-452-454-470-472-474-FLZ020>025-030>033-035>038-040-124-125- GAZ132>136-149>154-162>166-281000- Coastal waters from Altamaha Sound to Fernandina Beach FL out 20 NM- Coastal waters from Fernandina Beach to St. Augustine FL out 20 NM- Coastal waters from St. Augustine to Flagler Beach FL out 20 NM- Waters from Altamaha Sound GA to Fernandina Beach FL from 20 to 60 NM- Waters from Fernandina Beach to St. Augustine FL from 20 to 60 NM- Waters from St. Augustine to Flagler Beach FL from 20 to 60 NM- Hamilton-Suwannee-Columbia-Baker-Inland Nassau-Inland Duval-Union- Bradford-Clay-St. Johns-Gilchrist-Alachua-Putnam-Flagler-Marion- Coastal Nassau-Coastal Duval-Coffee-Jeff Davis-Bacon-Appling- Wayne-Atkinson-Ware-Pierce-Brantley-Inland Glynn-Coastal Glynn- Echols-Clinch-Charlton-Inland Camden-Coastal Camden- 321 AM EDT Thu Apr 27 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for Northeast Florida, Southeast Georgia and the Adjacent Coastal Waters. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight... Smoke near wildfires will result in localized areas of poor visibilities. Areas affected by the Okefenokee Swamp wildfire will include parts of Ware...Charlton...Pierce and Brantley counties. Isolated thunderstorms are possible this evening across inland Southeast Georgia...mainly north and west of Alma...along the Ocmulgee and Atlamaha River Basins. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday... Isolated thunderstorms will be possible Friday through Sunday. Scattered thunderstorms are possible on Monday. Areas of smoke from wildfires may reduce visibilities in some locations mainly during the late night and early morning hours. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed. For additional information, visit the National Weather Service in Jacksonville website on the internet at weather.gov/jax.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A 200 acre brush fire was 100% contained in the area of Southeast 109th Street and Southeast 38th Avenue in Hampton. The fire burned on land owned by Two Buck Hunting Club.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, April 2017
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: 692406.