Sandy Fire: South Florida Wildfire Consumes 690 Acres of Pine Reserve

On its fourth day, the Sandy Fire, a wildfire in South Florida that started in Big Cypress, is currently burning through a 690-acre pine reserve.

Nearby areas have been impacted by the Sandy Fire, which started on Monday in the Big Cypress National Preserve, west of the Florida Trail's Blue Loop. Some of the smoke from the brush fire drifted into the metro areas on Wednesday night and persisted until Thursday's morning rush hour.

The smoke was directed into the metro regions early this morning by a stronger northwesterly wind component, according to Lissette Gonzalez, a CBS News Miami meteorologist.

According to CBS News, the smoky smell that has been permeating Miami-Dade and Broward will fade as Thursday's winds tend to be more out of the east and push the smoke away from the region.

While the area is not yet expecting any high coverage, Ana Torres-Vazquez of the National Weather Service in Miami said that once the winds died down a little bit, there might be another night or so for smoke filtering to go through some of the areas.

Florida Weekend Weather: Enhanced Fire Weather

According to Gonzalez, the temperature on Thursday morning in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Key West was a comfortable 69 degrees. Kendall, who was 62, was the coolest, according to her.

On Thursday and Friday, temperatures will rise into the mid-to upper-80s with a 10% chance of precipitation. Rain is more likely by Saturday. Gonzalez predicts that there will just be sporadic showers and a few storms, not a washout.

The weekend's weather, according to Torres-Vazquez at the weather service, is just a preview of the South Florida area's typical early summer weather pattern. If there are storms, they would mostly arrive after 2 PM.

Chances of precipitation in the area are 30% on Saturday and Sunday, 20% on Monday and Tuesday, and 30% again on Wednesday.

From Thursday through Tuesday, Gonzalez predicted highs and lows of 88 to 86 and 72 to 75, respectively.

The weather service cautions that Thursday's fire weather conditions would be especially bad across South Florida's interior due to the usually dryer air over the weekend.

Similar to Orlando, Central Florida will have dry weather as the weekend approaches, and the weather services have also reported fire weather conditions there. Orlando has a 40% chance of rain on Saturday and a 30% possibility is forecast for Sunday.

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Sandy Fire Alert

As firefighters fight the wildfire, the National Park Service on Thursday posted a Sandy Fire alert to inform visitors of temporary closures. All trails and roads west of 11 Mile Road, east area of Monument Trail, north of US41, and south of Mud Lake will be closed. Little Deer, Oasis Trail, and Lost Dog are also temporarily closed in the Big Cypress National Preserve.

According to Torres-Vazquez, the Sandy Fire was consuming 690 acres of pines outside the preserve on Thursday.

Given the dry air along with low humidity in South Florida, particularly in the western half, the weather service published safety advice.

Authorities are asking locals to follow burn bans and evacuation orders, properly dispose of cigarettes, keep cars off dry grass, avoid spark-producing power equipment, and avoid activities with open fires, Miami Herald reports.