JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – All the rain this week might not be enough to stop the brush fires that we continue to have in our area.
In the last few weeks, Northeast Florida has already had a fair share of brush fires, including a 700-acre wildfire in the Bryceville area of Nassau County.
Heavy rains are expected early Thursday morning, but Channel 4 Meteorologist Rebecca Barry said it won't be enough.
"Certain areas will still be at risk for brush fires after tonight's rain. It's not going to rain long enough or hard enough over areas for it to completely diminish the wildfires," she said.
But what about Tuesday morning's heavy downpours?
The Weather Authority said for some areas, it came too quickly and all at once, which resulted in flooding.
"(But) most areas saw less than an inch. Like out at the airport, those areas still desperately need the rain and tonight's storm will bring some rain, but not enough," Barry said.
On Tuesday, steady and heavy rain added up to at least an inch of rain across southern Georgia with some areas over north Florida getting over 8 inches. Unfortunately, one spot missing out was Jacksonville International, which received just 0.31 inch -- doing little to recover the deficit of 4.23 inches for the year.
The fast-moving storm expected early Thursday could have intense lightning, Barry said, but won't cause too much fire danger. However, she said next week's forecast could.
"We did get a lot of rain in some areas over this week, but the next week looks dry and it doesn't take any time at all for all of the brush to dry out, especially when you have several days without rain like we're expecting for next week," Barry said.
Clay and Alachua counties are in a drought and the widespread totals between 2 and 3 inches will ease the pressure on the below average rainfall.
One of the best websites to see rainfall is COCORAHS, where volunteers measure precipitation across the nation and record backyard rain gauges. The ground truth observations back up Doppler radar rainfall estimates.
All this rain is rapidly swelling Pottsburg Creek near flood stage. The last time it got this high was November 2005.
The gauge near Bowden Road shows water above action stage and about 2 feet below the point that results in minor flooding in the nearby community. This may change as water drains into the creek swelling it further.