By AccuWeather.com News Director Steve Penstone
(STATE COLLEGE) - Brush fires in Florida have forced the closure of portions of Interstate 95.
A storm system spinning off the Atlantic coast will bring rain to coastal areas from New York City to Virginia; however, the storm will not bring any relief to the hot, dry conditions in Florida.
Orlando tied a record on Sunday, when the temperature reached 94.
Brush fires that began on Friday turned deadly over the weekend. Early Sunday, a combination of fog and smoke from brush fires led to a deadly accident on Interstate 95 in Brevard County. The Florida
Highway Patrol says two people died in the collision involving five vehicles.
With no rain in the forecast, troopers are not taking chances. This morning, The Highway Patrol closed sections of I-95 between Daytona Beach and Cape Canaveral. The FHP says I-95 and the BeachLine
Expressway will be closed every morning between 5:00 a.m. EDT and 9:00 a.m. EDT until conditions improve.
Firefighters in Volusia County, Fla, are busy trying to contain a stubborn wildfire that has consumed more than 800 acres and destroyed at least one home. More than one thousand residents of New
Smyrna Beach were forced to evacuate their homes when strong winds pushed the fire across I-95.
In an Associated Press report, Jim Brenner, fire management administrator for the state Division of Forestry says "The state as a whole is just extremely dry right now. These fires are consuming
everything. And it's not over by any stretch of the imagination."
The drought across Florida has led to more than 2,200 wildfires since Jan. 1. Those fires have burned oner 44,000 acres in the Sunshine State. The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho,
reports as of May 5, more than 2.3 million acres of land have burned across the U.S., compared to just over one-quarter of a million acres over the same period in 2005.
The rain from the storm system sitting off the Atlantic coast will remain close to the Mid-Atlantic coastline, while sunshine will dominate farther inland and across the Southeast. High pressure over
eastern Canada will stall the storm system, bringing more rain along the coast on Tuesday.
On Sunday, the system produced heavy storms across the Carolinas. New Bern, N.C., set a new daily rainfall record with 1.11 inches; a tornado reportedly touched down near Saint Stephen, S.C., and
winds estimated at 60 mph blew down street signs in Mount Pleasant, S.C.
The northern Plains and the Gulf Coast
of strong thunderstorms from Minnesota to Kansas and Oklahoma, and from extreme eastern Texas to northern Florida.
Gusty winds and quick, heavy downpours will be the major feature of the severe weather; however, AccuWeather.com is forecasting the potential for hail across the central Plains. The storms will make
their way into the western Great Lakes by tonight.
The heat wave continues across the Southwest as a cold front sliding into northern California begins to lose strength. Temperatures in the desert will hit the 90s.
Gusty winds along the coast will bring much cooler weather from Washington to central California, and even into the Los Angeles area.
| City |
Mon. |
Tues. |
Wed. |
Thurs. |
| Palm Springs |
95 |
95 |
99 |
101 |
| Barstow |
94 |
92 |
94 |
95 |
| Death Valley |
102 |
98 |
102 |
108 |
| Ventura |
62 |
67 |
65 |
69 |
| Santa Maria |
68 |
68 |
72 |
74 |
| Los Angeles |
72 |
72 |
76 |
79 |