Dry conditions and a long-term drought fueled wildfire growth.
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 conditions and a long-term drought fueled wildfire growth.
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 May 2, 6:45 PM EST, 37 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Jacksonville FL 745 PM EDT Fri May 2 2025 ...New AVIATION... .NEAR TERM... (Today through Tonight) Issued at 225 PM EDT Fri May 2 2025 For the latest NE FL and SE GA Daily Key Messages please visit: https://www.weather.gov/media/jax/briefings/nws-jax-briefing.pdf The combination of diurnal heating, sea breeze interactions, and a weak upper wave is expected to result in a few showers and storms inland this afternoon into early evening. This activity will diminish this evening with loss of daytime heating. Surface high pressure ridge will be centered to the east northeast through Tonight, with a dry overnight expected. Lows Tonight will range from the mid to upper 60s at the coast due to proximity to the relatively warmer ocean, and lower to mid 60s inland. && .SHORT TERM... (Saturday through Sunday night) Issued at 225 PM EDT Fri May 2 2025 A mid to upper level trough and 500 mb low will move across the Midwest and into the TN valley Saturday and Saturday night, while an associated sfc cold front will move into GA and the western FL panhandle. Moisture will increase with PWATs to near 1.25 to 1.5 inches Saturday with the flow being deep southwesterly ahead the trough and sfc front. The trough and moisture will help to destabilize the airmass over the area with at least a couple of sfc forcing mechanisms, one being the front itself later in the period and the other being a pre-frontal trough. The better chance of any scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms will be over the eastern half of the area as this is where the better low level moisture is located. MLCAPE up to 1000-1500 J/kg and bulk shear near 25 kt suggest some weak storm organization so we can't rule out a strong or severe storm in the aftn and evening. SPC has a marginal risk of severe storms for southeast GA Sat-Sat night. Highs in the upper 80s to near 90 expected, with sfc winds averaging from south to southwest up to 10-15 mph. As we go into Saturday night, slightly deep moisture will move in ahead of the cold front and we anticipate a slightly better chance of showers and possibly a few thunderstorms. By sunrise Sunday morning. the front is forecast to be located from east central GA to the central FL panhandle. Mild temps overnight in the 60s to around 70 ahead of the front. Sunday, the mid to upper level trough and 500 mb over the TN valley will lift gradually to the northeast, while the cold front slowly pushes southeast into our area. Some scattered shower activity may be ongoing Sunday morning but deep moisture will likely lead to even higher chances of showers and a few thunderstorms for the area. A small overlap of slightly stronger shear and instability could result in a strong/severe storm over a part of our area. Fair to moderate amount of clouds will result in lower max temps, with highs from 80-85 deg. Sunday night, the slow moving cold front will move into southeast GA and the Suwanee Valley area, possibly a little further east by sunrise Monday. Some isolated convection remains possible in association with the front, but most of the deep moisture will have moved out as the mid/upper level trough and forcing lifts out further to the northeast. Lows probably will dip a bit lower compared to Sat night, owing to precip-cooled air and the cold front. && .LONG TERM... (Monday through next Friday) Issued at 225 PM EDT Fri May 2 2025 The weakened cold front will be across northeast FL on Monday but moisture will become more limited but we have a chance of showers and a few storms again on Monday. May need to tweak these chances down a bit in subsequent forecasts but sea breeze and lingering moisture should support a chance mainly for the coastal areas and into north central FL near the front. By Tuesday, the front is diffuse but this boundary may start moving back northward through Tuesday night as ridge builds aloft. The airmass is fairly dry despite the shallow frontal boundary so we have low POPs at or below 20 percent. Clouds may increase again Tuesday night though as an upstream disturbance moves into the Gulf coast area. For Wednesday to Thursday, there are opportunities for precipitation with a lingering frontal boundary over north FL and south GA and some possible disturbances aloft as the flow will be mainly zonal. Models disagree on timing and intensity of this activity. For now, just showing low end chances of showers and storms around the 25-45 percent range. Max Temps will be near normal Monday but increase to be a few degrees above normal Tuesday through Thursday. && .AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 740 PM EDT Fri May 2 2025 The 00Z TAF period will begin with breezy east to southeasterly winds 10-15 knots gusting to 15-20 knots at the coast and 8-10 knots inland through 03Z under mostly clear skies. Have placed tempo restrictions at VQQ after 07Z for patchy MVFR fog, but VFR conditions elsewhere. Saturday a cold front will bring south to southwesterly winds 5-10 knots through the early afternoon before isolated to scattered thunderstorms develop by mid afternoon with increasing instability. The Atlantic seabreeze will press onshore midday and through CRG and JAX through 20Z, with winds changing to southeasterly 10-15 knots. && .MARINE... Issued at 225 PM EDT Fri May 2 2025 A surface high pressure ridge will extend across the area from a center to the east northeast through Saturday morning. The high will begin to move away Saturday afternoon. A trough of low pressure will pass east across the region Saturday afternoon through Saturday night. A cold front will then move slowly southeast across the area late Sunday through Monday. The boundary will linger just to the east southeast Tuesday, before lifting back across the area mid week. Rip Currents: Moderate through Saturday && .FIRE WEATHER... Issued at 225 PM EDT Fri May 2 2025 Pockets of Min RH today in the lower to mid 30s for inland areas but winds will be relatively light. For the weekend, there will be some moisture influx to the area and no critical RH values expected. However, dispersion values will be high on Saturday ahead of an approaching cold front. Hopefully with this front coming into the area, we can get some much needed wetting rainfall into at least a few areas through Sunday. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... AMG 63 86 64 81 / 10 30 70 60 SSI 70 82 69 81 / 0 40 60 70 JAX 66 87 66 85 / 0 40 40 80 SGJ 66 86 68 84 / 0 40 40 80 GNV 64 88 65 84 / 20 40 40 90 OCF 64 88 66 85 / 20 40 40 80 && .JAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...None. GA...None. AM...None. &&
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for all residences on NE County Highway 314 between SE 1st Street and State Road 40 near Silver Springs due to a wildfire.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, May 2025
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: 1250347.