Long term rainfall deficits combined with above normal warmth and an early spring bloom contributed to dry fuels and favorable conditions for wildfires.
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.
Long term rainfall deficits combined with above normal warmth and an early spring bloom contributed to dry fuels and favorable conditions for wildfires.
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 Mar 28, 1:03 PM EST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Jacksonville FL 203 PM EDT Tue Mar 28 2017 ...Much Above Normal Temperatures to continue this week... .NEAR TERM /Tonight-Wednesday/... Rest of this afternoon...Visible Satl Imagery shows nicely WSW-ENE oriented fair weather cumulus cloud streets across all of SE GA and NE FL with temps well into the lower to middle 80s in all areas with sea breeze pinned at the coast for now, but will move slowly inland to I-95 corridor the remainder of the afternoon. Cu field a bit more organized across SW and Central GA closer to the trof axis and still a slight chance of a late afternoon or evening shower/storm along the Ocmulgee and Altamaha River Basins across inland SE GA. Tonight...Slight chance of an evening shower/storm along the Altamaha River basin before midnight otherwise weak trof axis will slowly slide southward into SE GA overnight. Further southward main weather impact will be potential for low stratus/fog pushing out of the Big Bend/NE GOMEX region and into the I-75 corridor of inland North FL towards morning and have updated forecast to include areas of dense fog with advisory conds possible by sunrise. Highest chances of dense fog are along the I-75 corridor and Suwannee River Valley extending into the Alapaha River basin of SE GA, while still some uncertainty as to how much will be able to progress into the St Johns River basin and JAX metro area just after sunrise, it's possible but will have to see how the event unfolds later tonight. Wednesday...Weak boundary/trof remains stalled across SE GA and washes out as new High pressure builds into the Carolinas and remaining High pressure center is over the FL peninsula. This will leave the region in a weak pressure pattern with mostly sunny/partly cloudy skies developing after the fog dissipation around 10 am. Diurnal heating will drive Max temps into the mid/upper 80s inland with a few spots pushing close to 90F and near record highs listed below and also weak pressure gradient will allow sea breezes from both coasts to push further inland. Models trending towards allowing for some widely scattered showers and possibly a storm to develop on old boundary across SE GA during the afternoon hours but rain chances remain low at this time. .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... A warm front will extend Southeast across the region from a Midwest low Thursday. Convergence along this boundary is expected to lead to scattered showers and thunderstorms Thursday, mainly in the afternoon. This front will lift North Thursday night, as a cold front approaches from the West. A prefrontal trough is expected to precede the main cold front, with models depicting most convection occuring along this prefrontal trough Friday afternoon. Models are trending toward a weaker passage with this trough, but still could not rule out potential for a few strong to severe storms. The cold front then crosses Friday night. Temperatures will remain above normal this period. .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... High pressure will prevail across the region over the weekend with above normal temperatures. A cold front will cross Monday into Tuesday, bringing the potential for a round of showers and storms. && .AVIATION... VFR through the evening hours, then late tonight models coming into better agreement for W/SW flow out of the GOMEX to help develop advective stratus/fog event from the Big Bend region that will push across NE FL around sunrise Wed Morning. For now have advertised LIFR conds at GNV/VQQ starting around 08-09z with possible potential to impact the remaining NE FL TAF sites by 10-12z time frame but for now have kept just MVFR VSBYS and left low SCT clouds around 500 ft. Low clouds/stratus should dissipate around 14z Wed leaving VFR conds once again. && .MARINE... General southerly flow at 10-15 knots today become SEly at the coast with local sea breezes. Long period swells of 3-5 ft nearshore and 4-6 ft offshore will continue with SCEC headlines offshore. SW to W winds tonight at similar speeds as the swells slowly start to decrease. Then light/variable flow Wed Morning will become onshore with local sea breezes by the afternoon. A strong high pressure center over eastern Canada will press southward by late Wednesday and Thursday, pushing a weak frontal boundary to near the Georgia waters. This front will stall and then move back northward as a warm front on Thursday night as a cold front enters the southeastern states. This weather pattern will tighten our local pressure gradient, with onshore winds gradually strengthening on Thursday, reaching caution speeds for the near shore and offshore waters by Thursday evening. Seas will build to Small Craft Advisory levels in the offshore waters on Friday as winds become southerly. The front will cross our coastal waters late on Friday afternoon, with offshore winds developing and remaining at caution speeds on Friday night. Weak high pressure will then build over our region this weekend, with winds and seas quickly diminishing early on Saturday. Rip Currents: Moderate risk continues today in the long period swells with morning breaker/surf reports in the 3-5 ft range. Swells begin to fade tonight/early Wed in the offshore flow and expect marginal Moderate Risk to linger on Wednesday. && .CLIMATE...Record max temperatures may be challenged across SE GA both Wed and Thu. Site March 29 March 30 Records Records JAX 89/1991 89/1961 GNV 94/1907 94/1907 AMG 86/1998 86/1998 SSI 85/2012 88/1954 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... AMG 62 86 61 83 / 0 20 10 40 SSI 64 78 64 76 / 0 10 10 20 JAX 62 86 61 83 / 0 20 10 30 SGJ 62 81 66 82 / 0 10 10 30 GNV 58 88 59 87 / 0 10 0 40 OCF 57 88 59 86 / 0 10 0 30 && .JAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...None. GA...None. AM...None. && Hess/Struble/Corless
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Jacksonville FL 923 AM EDT Tue Mar 28 2017 AMZ450-452-454-470-472-474-FLZ020>025-030>033-035>038-040-124-125- GAZ132>136-149>154-162>166-290930- 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- 923 AM EDT Tue Mar 28 2017 ...A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT AREA BEACHES TODAY... This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for Northeast Florida, Southeast Georgia and the Adjacent Coastal Waters. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight... A persistent long period easterly ocean swell will create a moderate risk of rip currents at area beaches today. A more widespread fog event is possible overnight through the predawn hours on Wednesday, with locally dense fog possible across portions of inland southeast Georgia, the Suwannee Valley, and north central Florida. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday... A lingering easterly ocean swell will keep a moderate rip current risk in place at the northeast Florida beaches on Wednesday. Strengthening onshore winds may keep a moderate risk in place at area beaches on Thursday. Isolated thunderstorms are possible across inland southeast Georgia on Wednesday afternoon and early evening. A cold front will approach our region from the west on Thursday night and Friday. Isolated to widely scattered thunderstorms are expected on Thursday afternoon and evening. Scattered thunderstorms are expected along the front region-wide on Friday. Strong to isolated severe thunderstorms will be possible. Onshore winds will strengthen on Thursday night ahead of this front, with seas expected to build to Small Craft Advisory levels in the offshore waters on Friday as winds become southerly. .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.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A 50 acre wildfire was reported off of U.S. Highway 441 near the Florida-Georgia state line in rural Columbia County. Two hunting camps were partially damaged.
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, March 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: 680221.