Florida, 2026

Wildfire in Florida, April 12 to 30, 2026

April 12 to 30, 2026 · NWS JAX · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Extreme to exceptional drought continued or worsened for the majority of the region throughout the month of April. This, combined with many days of breezy to gusty wind conditions, resulted in a number of wildfires during the middle of April.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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.

Extreme to exceptional drought continued or worsened for the majority of the region throughout the month of April. This, combined with many days of breezy to gusty wind conditions, resulted in a number of wildfires during the middle of April.

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 Apr 12, 12:54 PM EST, 2 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

  • For the latest NE FL and SE GA Daily Key Messages please visit: https:/www.weather.gov/media/jax/briefings/nws-jax-briefing.pdf
  • Fog Potential Each Morning through Wednesday
  • High Risk of Rip Currents Rest of Today.
  • Extreme to Exceptional Drought Continues.
  • Dry & Warmer This Week leads to increased fire weather concerns. Use extreme caution when outdoors and camping. Please heed burn bans where they are in effect.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 12, 12:54 PM EST, 2 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Jacksonville FL
154 PM EDT Sun Apr 12 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

For the latest NE FL and SE GA Daily Key Messages please visit:
https:/www.weather.gov/media/jax/briefings/nws-jax-briefing.pdf

- Fog Potential Each Morning through Wednesday

- High Risk of Rip Currents Rest of Today.

- Extreme to Exceptional Drought Continues.

- Dry & Warmer This Week leads to increased fire weather
  concerns. Use extreme caution when outdoors and camping.
  Please heed burn bans where they are in effect.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
Main Highlights Today and Tonight:

- High Risk of Rip Currents continues at NE FL/SE GA beaches

- Locally dense fog possible late tonight/early Monday morning

High pressure ridging continues today, which is starting to orient
more northeast to southwest across the region, and therefore more of
a east-southeast to southeast wind direction is being observed
today. PWATs are below 0.75 inches and therefore rain chances are
near zero despite the continuing onshore flow, with just a few
diurnal clouds through this evening, mainly towards the I-95
corridor. The main concern today continues to be a higher risk of
rip currents, especially at northeast FL beaches. Highs in the 80s
will be common again today, except near the immediate coast where
upper 70s are expected.

Tonight, just enough low level moisture will be in place for some
patchy to areas of fog expected across the interior, with most high
res guidance suggesting interior GA having the highest potential,
especially for locally dense fog. Otherwise, mostly clear besides a
some higher clouds starting to fill in from the west overnight, with
lows in the 50s inland and upper 50s to low 60s near the coast.

&&

.SHORT TERM /MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/...
Main Highlights This Period:

- Patchy fog each morning, which may become locally dense.
- Dry weather persists

Ridging aloft will dominate Monday through Tuesday night, with only
a weak passing upper level shortwave on Monday and Monday night
bringing some occasional high clouds. Otherwise, moisture
remains very limited (PWATs below 0.75 inches) and will continue
the dry weather pattern with additional subsidence due to the
ridge aloft. At nighttime, the light to calm winds and mostly
clear skies will support late night and early morning fog, but
should be fairly shallow and transient given the lack of low
level moisture. Atlantic sea breezes expected each afternoon
with speeds up to 10-15G20mph. High temperatures will run above
normal, with inland temps in the upper 80s, with potential for
about 90 on Tuesday. Coastal highs will be limited to upper 70s
to around 80 both days due to onshore flow. Low temps moderate
only slightly with mid 50s inland and closer to 60 at the coast.

&&

.LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/...
Main Highlights This Period:

- Dry weather
- Record highs likely
- Fire weather concerns remain

Mid to upper level ridging dominates Wednesday into early Thursday,
promoting continued dry conditions. By Thursday into Thursday night,
a dampening shortwave trough moving through the Appalachians and the
southeast CONUS briefly suppresses the ridge southeastward, though
limited moisture and weak forcing will keep things dry. The ridge
quickly rebuilds overhead Friday in the wake of the shortwave,
bringing back large scale subsidence and above normal highs.

By the weekend, increasing height falls to the west associated with
an approaching mid/upper level trough begin to flatten the ridge and
push it southward. This results in increasing southwest flow
through the column and some weak warm advection. A weakening cold
front may move into our area Sunday afternoon or Sunday night, but
with limited upper support and moisture, precip chances remain low.

At the surface, high pressure anchored to the east will maintain a
general southeast and south flow. The Atlantic sea breeze should be
moderate to strong each afternoon, though probably a bit weaker
Sunday as the flow begins to change ahead of the front. The higher
than normal heights will support highs near or exceeding record
highs each day during this period, with lower to mid 90s probable.
A check on ensemble data shows 20-30 percent of max temps exceeding
95 degrees on Friday and Saturday. Lows trend a little warmer than
they have been, with upper 50s to lower 60s transitioning to lower
to mid 60s by Sunday morning.

&&

.AVIATION /18Z SUNDAY THROUGH 18Z MONDAY/...
VFR is expected to prevail for most if not all of the forecast
period at this time. Southeasterly breezes around 10 kts will higher
gusts at times will ease later this evening. The only other
operational concern through the forecast period will be some FG/BR
potential early Monday morning. Confidence remains too low at this
time with probabilities currently under 10 percent at all terminals
except at VQQ, which have included MVFR vsbys accordingly.

&&

.MARINE...

High pressure ridging will be the prevailing feature through mid to
late this week, with flow gradually shifting more southeasterly over
the next several days. Elevated seas today over the area waters,
mostly from east swells, will gradually subside through this
week as well.

Rip Currents and Surf:

East swells and onshore flow will persist high risk of rip currents
at area beaches today with surf heights around 2-4 ft on
average. The risk will likely drop to moderate for at least
southeast GA beaches Monday.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
- Minrh Values Below 30 Percent Common Inland Se Ga This Period
- High Dispersions Inland Rest Of Today
- Patchy High Dispersions Possible Ne Fl Tuesday

High pressure will prevail through the upcoming week, with dry
weather continuing. Min RH values from the mid 20s to lower 30s
percent range the next few days inland areas through Tuesday. In
these areas, sustained winds will likely be below 15 mph. Closer to
the coast, RH values will be higher but easterly winds may be breezy
at times up to 15 mph due to the Atlantic sea breeze.

FOG POTENTIAL AND OTHER REMARKS: Patchy fog late tonight and early
Monday, and again early Tuesday morning.

&&

.CLIMATE...
Record High Temperatures at NE FL/SE GA climate sites:

April 13: JAX 92/2001, CRG 91/2001, GNV 93/1922, AMG 88/2001

April 14: JAX 90/2007, CRG 90/2023, GNV 91/2019, AMG 91/2007

April 15: JAX 90/2006, CRG 91/2001, GNV 92/1936, AMG 91/1954

April 16: JAX 90/1972, CRG 91/2011, GNV 90/1967, AMG 92/1967

April 17: JAX 93/1967, CRG 90/2006, GNV 90/1945, AMG 91/1967

April 18: JAX 94/1967, CRG 89/2018, GNV 91/1967, AMG 92/1967

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
AMG  53  86  57  88 /   0   0   0   0
SSI  61  77  62  78 /   0   0   0   0
JAX  57  83  59  85 /   0   0   0   0
SGJ  61  79  62  80 /   0   0   0   0
GNV  55  87  57  89 /   0   0   0   0
OCF  55  87  58  88 /   0   0   0   0

&&

.JAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...High Risk for Rip Currents through late tonight for FLZ124-125-138-
     233-333.
GA...High Risk for Rip Currents through late tonight for GAZ154-166.
MARINE...None.

&&

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 12, 11:58 AM EST, 58 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Jacksonville FL
1258 PM EDT Sun Apr 12 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1255 PM     Wildfire         1 S Taylor              30.43N 82.29W
04/12/2026                   Baker              FL   Broadcast Media

            A wildfire broke out near Doyle Williams
            Road near Taylor in Baker county. The fire
            is estimated to have burned near 500 acres,
            with law enforcement beginning to evacuate
            residents in the area. It is estimated the
            fire began about 10am-1030am based on
            satellite data.

&&

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Baker

When
April 12, 12:56 PM EST to April 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Baker forecast zone
Reported by
County Official
Coordinates
30.331, -82.285 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A wildfire near Sanderson quickly grew to 500-600 acres during the 12th of April, also prompting 4 evacuations near Doyle Williams Road. These evacuations were then lifted on the 13th of April. There are little details known beyond this date, however it is likely the wildfire continued to burn through the end of April.

Wildfire, Baker

When
April 14, 3:39 PM EST to April 23, 8:00 AM EST
Where
Baker forecast zone
Reported by
Park/Forest Service
Coordinates
30.331, -82.285 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A wildfire ignited near Conner-Nelson Rd in Hilliard on the 14th of April, resulting in the evacuation of one residence and a closure of County Road 115 nearby as a result of poor visibility from smoke. The fire grew to 500 acres shortly thereafter. By the evening of the 22nd of April, the fire was almost fully contained and all road closures had been lifted.

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

More

Every storm in Florida in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, April 2026

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: 1330142, 1330154.