A long-running drought is the catalyst for wildfires that have burned nearly three times the average yearly acreage in Florida so far this year.
And two new wildfires added some 10,000 charred acres to the Florida Everglades this weekend.
The U.S. Wildland Fire Service sent fire crews into Shark Valley, a marshy region in the River of Grass where drought has lowered water levels and pulled moisture from soil and plants.
Broad expanses of sawgrass prairie and scattered tree islands have been turned into prime wildfire fuel.
The National Park Service said Sunday lightning-caused Chipmunk Fire had burned about 9,200 acres and was 30 percent contained Sunday night. The nearby Vulture Fire had burned nearly 300 acres and is 60 percent contained.
Shark Valley was closed while wildland firefighters on the ground and in the air worked to contain the fires.
Other fires in that area include the 116 acre Lemur fire, discovered the afternoon of Aug. 21 and reported as natural, and a 6,222-acre wildfire being called the Movie Dome Incident that was discovered the evening of Aug. 19 and is 60 percent contained. Both are south of the Chipmunk fire.
Nearly 280,000 acres have burned across Florida through this point August, compared with an annual average of about 100,000 acres.
Drought not over
Last year at this time, weather-watchers saw a strong start to the summer rainy season trailing off to a rainfall deficit of a foot or more in places. Similar totals are building this year.
Also last year, that drop in rainfall totals restrengthened the drought throughout Florida leading, in part, to the heady wildfire season now underway.
In June, the Southwest Florida Water Management District extended its modified “extreme” water shortage through Oct. 1 due to ongoing drought conditions throughout the region.
The district includes part of Charlotte County and the counties to its north in the Tampa and northeast in the Orlando areas,
The rules require all residents in the district, including those on private wells, to continue following one-day-per-week watering restrictions with strict watering hours from 12:01 a.m. to 4 a.m. or 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. Properties less than one acre in size may only use one of these windows. Any stricter municipal watering hours apply.
Heat-wise, Southwest Florida is experiencing its ninth-warmest summer to date and remains around 2°F above average. As climate change drives up global temperatures, more water is evaporating into the atmosphere - leaving soils and surface water bodies more dry.
Florida Public Radio Emergency Network meteorologists said last week that residents in the region suffered under two dozen heat advisories, including the 15 that have been issued in the Fort Myers area.
The drought remains a major topic across Florida. The latest U.S. Drought Monitor shows several categories worsening, especially the extreme drought category, which grew by slightly more than a quarter of a percentage point.
“This might seem insignificant, but the drought hasn't really left us since summer arrived,” the FPREN meteorologists wrote last week. “Remember, summer is Florida’s rainy season. Still having extreme drought show up on the Florida map could start sounding alarm bells across the state.”
The super El Nino
NOAA’s latest forecast shows the El Niño strengthening with a greater than 90 percent chance of becoming a very strong event during the fall and winter.
The agency’s latest outlook pushes the strongest El Niño influence into winter, bumping the period when its wetter pattern could help quench the drought in South Florida back to the end of the year and perhaps into early 2027.
A separate seasonal drought outlook released Aug. 20 is more encouraging for Southwest Florida in the shorter term.
The Climate Prediction Center says drought conditions in the Fort Myers area are expected to improve or end during the outlook period through Nov. 30.
But heat is expected to remain. On the strength of this El Niño, climate scientists believe it's rather certain 2027 will set a record for the hottest year on record.
Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.
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