Florida Wildfire, Smoke, and Air Quality Map

Fire season and landscape

Florida's wildfire season peaks in spring, roughly March through May, after the dry winter and before the summer rain pattern sets in. Lightning starts fires once the storms return, and prescribed burning runs through much of the year on state and federal land, so hotspots on this map are often planned fire. June through November adds hurricanes, surge, and river flooding to the state's hazard calendar.

The Apalachicola National Forest in the Panhandle holds one of the largest remaining expanses of longleaf pine flatwoods, with the Osceola National Forest in the northeast and the Ocala National Forest's sand pine scrub in the center of the peninsula. Nearly all of Florida is flat, so fire moves with wind, fuel, and drought rather than slope. Water defines the rest of the hazard map, from summer lightning storms to hurricane surge and river flooding.

• Florida hotspot detections run nearly year-round, and much of the winter signal is prescribed fire; the wildfire perimeter layer separates mapped incidents from planned burning.
• Spring drought depth sets the tone for the season's fire potential; the drought layer through March and April is the clearest early read.
• Smoke from flatwoods and muck fires can sit low across the peninsula's flat terrain; the smoke and air quality forecast layers cover both current and next-day conditions.