Current Weather Outlook
Statewide weather outlook from Florida Division of Emergency Management Meteorology
Wednesday, December 17, 2025
...High Pressure Conditions for the State Leading to a Mostly Dry Day...Brief Sprinkles or Light Showers Possible for Portions of Eastern Coastline...Long-Term Drought Conditions Will Lead to Sensitive Wildfire Conditions for North Florida...Lingering Breezy Wind Gusts Across South Florida and Keys...Pleasant Temperatures this Afternoon...Next Frontal System Approaches Tonight Bringing Isoalted Shower Activity for the Panhandle and I-95 Corridor...Instances of Fog for Big Bend and Suwannee Valley Early Thursday Morning...Moderate Risk for Rip Currents Along Panhandle and East Coast; High Risk for Southeast Florida...
Updated at 8:02 AM EST
Today's Threats:
|
No Threat |
Low Threat |
Medium Threat |
High Threat |
|
Lightning |
Tornado |
Damaging Wind/Hail |
Wildfire |
Freeze (Overnight) |
Fog (Overnight) |
Coastal Flooding |
Rip Currents |
| Iso. Coastal Panhandle (Overnight) |
Locally North Florida |
Big Bend & Suwannee Valley Panhandle & Nature Coast |
Southeast FL Panhandle & East Coast West Coast |
Weather Summary for the Next 24 Hours:
A pleasant day across the Sunshine State can be expected as high pressure conditions will continue. Mostly sunny conditions will persist throughout the state, with a chance for some light sprinkles or a brief shower along portions of the eastern coastline due to an upper-level feature (10-20% chance of rain). Any activity that manages to develop or drift onshore will remain light and brief. Despite relative humidity values remaining above critical thresholds across North Florida, sensitive wildfire conditions cannot be ruled out with ongoing long-term drought conditions over the region. Otherwise, mostly calm conditions will continue throughout the day across the state with some lingering wind gusts of 15-20 mph across South Florida and the Keys.
High temperatures will return back into the middle 60s to lower 70s for North Florida, middle to upper 70s across Central Florida and upper 70s to near 80-degrees for South Florida this afternoon.
Our next frontal system will approach the state tonight, and elevated moisture ahead of this front may help to bring isolated showers onshore for much of the Panhandle and East Coast during the late overnight and early morning hours (10-35% chance of rain). The best chance for shower activity will be along the Panhandle as a warm front lifts northward from the gulf waters bringing showers and a possible thunderstorm. With moisture recovering and calm winds, instances of fog will be possible early Thursday morning throughout the Big Bend, Suwannee Valley and interior Northeast Florida.
Low temperatures will fall into the lower to middle 50s for North Florida, upper 50s to middle 60s across Central Florida and 60s to near 70-degrees for South Florida.
Hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to November 30.
For the latest on the tropics, please visit the National Hurricane Center (NHC) at www.hurricanes.gov.
Rip Currents: Numerous Panhandle and East Coast beaches can expect a moderate risk for rip currents due to onshore winds and dissipating ocean swells. Southeast Florida beaches will continue to see a high risk for rip currents. For the latest Rip Current Outlook, visit www.weather.gov/beach.
Marine Hazards: Wave heights along the East Coast continue to gradually decline and will remain near 2-4’ throughout the day. Isolated breaking waves upwards of 5’ cannot be ruled out along the Treasure Coast this afternoon. Panhandle and West Coast beaches can expect wave heights near 1-2’.
Red Tide was observed at background to medium concentrations in both Bay and Gulf counties and background to low concentrations in Franklin County. Red Tide was not observed in Southwest Florida or along the Florida East Coast (valid 12/12).
Coastal Flooding: There is no risk for coastal flooding across Florida.
Fire Weather: High pressure will continue across the state keeping conditions dry throughout the state, except for a few showers along the eastern coastline. Relative humidity values will mostly remain above critical thresholds across the state, except for a portion of the northwestern Panhandle where they could dip near critical thresholds this afternoon (30-35%). Breezy wind gusts of 15-20 mph will linger throughout the Peninsula today, but calm winds return to the Panhandle. Ongoing drought conditions will lead to sensitive to locally elevated wildfire conditions across North Florida today, especially as little to no rainfall has occurred over the last week. Instances of fog may be possible early Wednesday morning. According to the Florida Forest Service, there are 14 active wildfires across the state burning approximately 92 acres.
Drought (12/11): Widespread rainfall totals of 2-4 inches was observed across the Panhandle and North Florida over the past week as numerous rounds of showers and thunderstorms rolled through the area the past weekend and early this week. As a result, this week’s Drought Monitor outlook features some reduction in drought categories across much of North Florida. Last week’s Exceptional Drought has been downgraded to an Extreme Drought (level 3 of 4) across portions of Jackson, Calhoun, Liberty, Gadsden, Leon, Wakulla, Jefferson, and Madison counties. Severe Drought (level 2 of 4) remains in place cross much of the I-10 corridor from Baker County to Holmes County in North Florida, with Moderate Drought (level 1 of 4) across the rest of the western Panhandle and southward across the southern portions of the Suwannee River Valley. Some slight reduction in the Severe Drought (level 2 of 4) was seen over coastal West-Central Florida of northern Hillsborough and Pinellas County where some localized rainfall totals of 4-6 inches was observed in the past week. However, just south of that, expansion of the Severe Drought (level 2 of 4) was added over southern Sarasota and coastal Charlotte Counties where rainfall largely missed. A general couple of tenths of rain were observed over South Florida in the past week, not enough to curb the developing drought. Expansion of the Moderate Drought (level 1 of 4) was added to this week’s outlook across much of interior South Florida, with abnormally dry (emerging drought) conditions expanding to the Southeast Florida coastline. Although shorter-term rainfall departures are above normal due to the recent rainfall, portions of North Florida are still under a long-term rainfall deficit (60-90 days) and drought conditions will persist. Additionally, rainfall chances will remain very low over the next week, or longer, which may lead to a resumption of deteriorating drought conditions.
The Keetch-Byram Drought Index average for Florida is 414 (+3) on a scale from 0 (very wet) to 800 (very dry). There are 16 Florida counties that have an average KBDI above 500 (drought/increased fire danger).
Flash Flooding: There is no organized risk for flash flooding today.
Riverine Flooding: There are no riverine concerns across Florida. For more information, visit the River Forecast Center.
Lake Okeechobee’s average elevation is 13.54 feet, which is within the operational band and is 1.18 feet below normal for this time of year.
