Weather

Tucker Fire: Monday's lightning started it, Tuesday's storms put it out

By Irene Sans, WFTV.com

Picture captured by Meteorologist George Waldenberger

By Irene Sans, WFTV.com

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Severe thunderstorms formed just after 4 p.m. Tuesday, intensifying over Volusia County as they traveled southeast at about 10 mph. As the cluster of storms reached northern Brevard County, a severe thunderstorm alert was issued, which then was expanded and ultimately expired before 6 p.m.

It was fortunate that this set of storms came right over the Tucker Fire, which was ignited Monday evening by a lightning strike and had burned more than 2,000 acres by Tuesday morning.

Lightning can produce more fires, but with the amount of rain and the speed at which the storm was moving, there were better odds of it putting out the fire than spreading it.

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WILDFIRE SAFETY TIPS

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Winds were also light all day, mainly coming from the west, and the humidity was high. This prevented the fire from spreading further.

It’s been 20 years since a section of I-95 had to be shut down because of a wildfire on district property.

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The cluster developed more than 2,000 lightning strikes within a 15-minute span, an impressive number in Florida. Also, the storm was very tall, with cloud tops reaching about 60,000 feet.
WILDFIRES IN FLORIDA - now and then

As these storms diminished and moved offshore, another round of strong thunderstorms formed inland. The inland storms moved very slowly, also with lightning and gusty winds. These will be diminishing as the sun sets. Typical afternoon Florida thunderstorms lose their energy as we lose sunlight.

A few storms could linger through 11 p.m. The evening will remain mostly cloudy and temperatures will drop to the low to mid-70s.

More typical afternoon thunderstorms are in the forecast for Wednesday.

VIDEO: LIGHTNING SURROUNDS TUCKER FIRE 

Pronóstico por nuestra meteoróloga Irene Sans

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Irene Sans

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