Prolonged drought, very dry fuels due to recent cold weather, and a lack of recent wetting rainfall contributed to fire weather conditions capable of supporting rapid fire spread during the month of February.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 MFL wrote it up.
Prolonged drought, very dry fuels due to recent cold weather, and a lack of recent wetting rainfall contributed to fire weather conditions capable of supporting rapid fire spread during the month of February.
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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 7, 6:06 AM EST, 5 hours 54 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Miami FL
606 AM EST Sat Feb 7 2026
...New AVIATION...
.KEY MESSAGES...
Updated at 605 AM EST Sat Feb 7 2026
- Hazardous marine conditions will continue across the
Atlantic waters this weekend.
- Low relative humidity values could result in enhanced fire
behavior this afternoon.
&&
.SHORT TERM...
(Today through Sunday)
Issued at 1224 AM EST Sat Feb 7 2026
The mid-level and upper-level ridge pattern begins to amplify more
and also shift towards the Florida Peninsula throughout today. The
surface high with this ridge will be centered in the western Gulf
today, but will expand and start to shift eastward for the latter
half of the weekend. With exceptionally dry air (PWATs under 0.5")
that is in the top 10% of driest days for this date and high
pressure building over the area, an extremely calm and comfortable
weekend is expected. Temperatures will be beginning to rebound each
day, although the ability for them to rise will be hampered by a
weak backdoor cold front passing through the region Saturday night.
Highs should reach the mid to upper 70s for many areas this weekend
with all of South Florida hitting at least the low 70s both days.
Overnight lows Saturday night will still be on the chillier side
with low to mid 40s expected across Southwest Florida and low to mid
50s for the east coast metro.
&&
.LONG TERM...
(Sunday night through Friday)
Issued at 1224 AM EST Sat Feb 7 2026
The ridge pattern over the Gulf and southeast U.S. will remain in
place through the first half of next week with the surface high
pressure expected to settle over the Florida Peninsula in the Tue-
Wed time frame. This will keep extremely quiet weather in place
through the middle of next week with temperatures gradually
rising each day. By Wednesday, most of the region could see
temperatures back into the low 80s.
Heading into late next week, a potent shortwave trough is modeled to
advect eastward which will weaken the ridge and eventually force the
ridge out of the area. With that said, even with this trough
providing forcing for ascent, moisture advection looks to be lacking
based on long term ensemble guidance. Therefore, rain chances are
still very low to non-existent for this time frame but this is also
the most uncertain time period of the forecast with it being at the
tail end. We will continue to monitor trends, but currently
projected parameters are indicating mostly dry conditions continuing
through the end of next week with perhaps just an increase in cloud
cover.
&&
.AVIATION...
(12Z TAFS)
Issued at 605 AM EST Sat Feb 7 2026
VFR through the 12Z TAF period. Light westerly winds this morning
becoming NNE 10-15 kts mid afternoon across the east coast metro.
&&
.MARINE...
Issued at 1224 AM EST Sat Feb 7 2026
Hazardous winds and seas will continue across the Atlantic waters
today as winds remain fresh to strong. Seas in these waters will
also remain elevated at 7-9 feet through most of Sunday due to the
lingering winds and a northeasterly swell. Conditions should improve
for these waters early next week as seas fall back to 3-5 feet or
less. Gulf seas will be 3-5 feet through the weekend before falling
to 2 feet or less early next week.
&&
.BEACHES...
Issued at 1224 AM EST Sat Feb 7 2026
An elevated risk for rip currents will return to the Atlantic
beaches this weekend with a high risk expected for them as winds
shift to an onshore direction and remain breezy. A moderate risk
also exists for the Collier beaches today, but this will fall off on
Sunday as winds shift to an offshore direction there.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...
Issued at 1224 AM EST Sat Feb 7 2026
The dry air mass will remain over the region this weekend with
forecast relative humidity values falling into the 25-35% range
later today. 20ft winds are still forecast to remain on the lighter
side today due to high pressure building over the area, but
transport winds will be a little stronger at 10-20 kts which will
support potential for a loss of control. Overall, the combination of
the extremely dry air mass and dry vegetation could set the stage
for elevated fire behavior across portions of South Florida this
afternoon. Lowest relative humidity values today are expected in
Glades and Hendry counties. Other interior locations will still see
RH's in the 30-35% range.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Miami 75 55 72 57 / 0 0 0 0
West Kendall 76 49 73 50 / 0 0 0 0
Opa-Locka 76 53 73 55 / 0 0 0 0
Homestead 76 53 73 55 / 0 0 0 0
Fort Lauderdale 74 55 70 57 / 0 0 0 0
N Ft Lauderdale 73 55 71 57 / 0 0 0 0
Pembroke Pines 76 53 73 55 / 0 0 0 0
West Palm Beach 72 54 71 55 / 0 0 0 0
Boca Raton 74 55 72 55 / 0 0 0 0
Naples 72 48 73 51 / 0 0 0 0
&&
.MFL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...None.
AM...Small Craft Advisory until 7 PM EST Sunday for AMZ650-670.
Small Craft Advisory until 1 PM EST Sunday for AMZ651-671.
GM...None.
&&
SHORT TERM...Redman
LONG TERM....Redman
AVIATION...CMFThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
The Buggy Fire in rural inland Broward County reached 4267 acres in size before being contained.
A wildfire in Glades County reached 1800 acres before being contained on February 7th.
The West Boundary Rd Fire reached 2173 acres on February 11, 2026.
The First Point Fire reached 8612 acres before containment on February 13th.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, February 2026
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: 1321418, 1321422, 1321420, 1321421.