Wildfire risk elevated due to drought conditions on the Treasure Coast
Drought conditions are posing wildfire risks across the Treasure Coast, but especially in Martin County.
Severe drought conditions are present across much of Martin County and those are expected to persist despite rainfall forecast for Monday and Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Extreme drought conditions are present in the western part of the county near Lake Okeechobee.
"With the fuels being so dry and some of the windier conditions especially associated with the sea breezes in the afternoon, that just means any sort of sparks or embers that start local brush fires and things like that can spread pretty quickly," said National Weather Service meteorologist Brendan Schaper in Melbourne.
"If we can get some rainfall down there that will help to temper those fire concerns," Schaper said. "But for right now it's one of those things where if something starts, it's a challenge at first to get it contained."
Lightning poses a risk for wildfires, too, Schaper said.
A half-inch to an inch of rain could fall Monday and Tuesday in Martin County with some higher amounts locally, according to the National Weather Service. Through Wednesday morning, an inch to 2 inches could accumulate, Schaper said.
But "for a drought that's in the severe to extreme category, that's going to take probably a little more than an inch or two to put a significant dent in those conditions," he said.
Drought conditions are less severe in Indian River and St. Lucie counties. It's abnormally dry across Indian River County and the northern portion of St. Lucie County, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor map for Florida. The latest edition was released May 8.
The southern portion of St. Lucie County is experiencing either moderate or severe drought conditions, the map shows.
Two to 3 inches of rain could fall in St. Lucie and Indian River counties from Monday morning through Wednesday morning, Schaper said.
Interestingly, year-to-date rainfall totals do not indicate the region is suffering from drought conditions.
Just over 12 inches of rain has fallen in Fort Pierce, while the normal year-to-date total is 11.71 inches, Schaper said. But the departure-from-normal amounts for the last 30 days paint a different picture.
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Rainfall totals are 1 to 3 inches below normal for most of Martin County and 3 to 4 inches below normal for the southeastern part of the county, Schaper said.
"Definitely the recent stretches put us into this drought," he said.
Keith Burbank is TCPalm's watchdog reporter covering Martin County. He can be reached at keith.burbank@tcpalm.com and at 720-288-6882.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Drought conditions on the Treasure Coast raise the risk of wildfires
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