Chokoloskee, Florida

... Fire Weather Watch in effect from Friday afternoon through
Friday evening...

The National Weather Service in Miami has issued a Fire Weather
Watch... which is in effect from Friday afternoon through Friday
evening.

A drier air mass will spread south across South Florida Friday... with
ample sunshine and mixing of dry air aloft expected to result in a
prolonged period of relative humidity below 35 percent Friday
afternoon and evening across Collier, Glades, Hendry and inland
portions of Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

A Fire Weather Watch means that critical fire weather conditions
are forecast to occur. Listen for later forecasts and possible
red flag warnings.

... Record lowest maximum temperature tied at Fort Lauderdale
today...

The maximum temperature of 65 degrees at Fort Lauderdale
international Airport today tied the record for the lowest maximum
temperature of 65 set back in 1915.

... Flood insurance awareness day for Thursday March 18 2010...

Flood insurance... a separate policy form homeowners wind
insurance... is available from the federal government through private
insurance companies.

Flood insurance protects property against rising flood waters that
can be caused by excessive rainfall associated with tropical
cyclones. To find out if your property is in a flood zone and you
need flood insurance... see your insurance agent. It is wise to buy
flood insurance before the start of hurricane season... June
1... because there is a delay between when you buy the policy and
when it takes effect.

Besides tropical cyclones... rainfall flooding can also occur in
other situations. One example was over extreme northeast Miami-Dade
and southeast Broward counties mainly east of I-95 between Dania
beach and North Miami Beach. An area of thunderstorms set up over
this region on Dec 17, 2009 which produced between 8 to 14 inches of
rainfall. 189 homes were also damaged from the flooding which led to
an estimated $500,000 in damage. Another recent example of extensive
flooding over South Florida was in the Miami Beach area on June 5,
2009 which produced over 9 inches in less than 3 hours. In both
events, roads became impassable and numerous vehicles stalled and
became stranded. In addition, water T entered homes and businesses.

For more information on flood awareness week... visit the Miami
National Weather Service web site at www.Weather.Gov/Miami. You can
also visit the National Weather Service flood safety web Page at
www.Weather.Gov/floodsafety.