Florida drought outlook and brush fires: What to know, how to prepare

Florida brush fires and drought warning: What to know

Brush fires continue to break out across Florida due to the dry conditions bringing drought to the area. A drought is defined as a period of drier-than-normal conditions, and it can last for days, months or even years. We are continuing to see the severe drought conditions reaching further into Lake County, and moderate drought conditions continuing to impact Orlando. Here's everything you need to know to stay informed about drought and brush fires.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Brush fires continue to break out across Florida due to the dry conditions bringing drought to the area. But what is a drought, and what does it mean for residents?

What is a drought?

What we know:

A drought is defined as a period of drier-than-normal conditions. A drought can last for days, months or even years.

Droughts often have large impacts on the ecosystems and agriculture of affected regions, and they can be very serious.

What are the different levels of drought?

Regular drought: When a region is in a regular drought, it means there has been short-term dryness impacting grass and plants. Even slight drought conditions can have an impact on agriculture.
Severe drought: This is when the soil is very dry and greatly impacts plants and crops where pasture loss is likely. This is also when wildfires have the conditions to spread very quickly due to all the dry fuel.
Extreme drought: Exceptional and widespread crop and pasture losses are expected. There is also an extreme fire risk because of the ground, air and crops being so dry. This is also when we see shortages of water and limitations on water use.

Drought levels in Central Florida

Local perspective:

Updated drought conditions come in every Thursday.

We are continuing to see the severe drought conditions reaching further into Lake County, and moderate drought conditions continuing to impact Orlando.

Fires have already popped up in Orange, Brevard, Marion and Volusia counties. So, fire weather warnings in areas that are seeing drought will see a lot more advisories regarding fire weather as we continue through the spring season.

Drought fuels fires across Central Florida

A drought is defined as a period of drier-than-normal conditions, and it can last for days, months or even years.

Drought outlook in Florida

Big picture view:

Already, we need the rain, and we have just started the spring season. We are barely hanging on to a La Nina pattern.

This is when there is colder ocean water in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. This has an impact on the weather that we see across the United States, especially in the spring and winter months.

Because of the La Nina phase, this spring is expected to be warmer and drier than normal here across Central Florida.

Drought conditions are expected to worsen over long stretches without events of soaking rain to combat drought conditions. If this outlook holds true, fire weather risk will be very high.

Brush fires popping up in Florida

Dig deeper:

A fire weather warning is issued when there is an increased risk of brush and wildfires sparking or spreading quickly.

These warnings are issued by your local National Weather Service office and can require different criteria depending on where you live. However, overall warm temperatures, very low humidity, stronger winds and worsening drought conditions are all factors in deciding if a fire weather warning is to be put into effect.

For us in Central Florida, the National Weather Service office in Melbourne issues a fire weather warning when there are very dry ground conditions, wind gusts of 20-30 mph and a relative humidity percentage of less than 35.

Orlando 7-Day Weather Forecast

FOX 35 Storm Tracker Radar and Live Weather Cameras

Track live when storms move across your area using the FOX 35 Storm Tracker Radar below. You can also watch as heavy rain moves across Central Florida on our Live Weather Cameras' page here.