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American Morning

Florida Rain Promises Relief for Fire Crews

Aired April 25, 2001 - 10:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In Florida, a forecast of rain brings the promise of relief for weary fire crews. Rain is already falling in northern Florida, and forecasters say the storm system is likely to stall over south Florida this weekend and dump several inches of much- needed rain. Of the 60 fires burning across the state, the most serious is a 7,500-acre blaze that has closed the main highway to the Florida Keys.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's check with Chad Myers now, who is in the weather center this morning. Chad, you're positive that there's going to be enough rain to actually help or maybe put out these fires?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It sure looks like it. There's a lot of rain coming not really for the next 24 hours in some spots in south Florida. But after that -- we're talking Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week -- there's rain over at least part of the Florida peninsula each day.

This is a map I made this morning. Since 1998, this state has really seen very little rainfall whatsoever. Pensacola is 46 inches below where they should be. If you add up all the rain from 1998 until now, they should have had about 150 inches. They've had only about 100.

Tallahassee, 50.6 down. Orlando, almost 19 inches below normal. Tampa, 26 inches below normal. The only spot down here, Miami is 14 inches above normal. So yes, south Florida did see some rain. But they will continue to be very dry here in the next couple of days. And then finally, this stuff gets all the way down to south Florida by Friday.

Here's your rain now from Gainesville, Tallahassee, Valdosta, excellent rain showers here, not the heavy stuff that's really running off. This is nice, slow rain soaking in.

This is very sandy soil here in Florida. So when it rains, it doesn't stay in the surface very long. It goes right on down and right into the aquifer. And those aquifers where the water is down below the land, where people actually drill down with their wells to get to that water, have been very, very low lately. Pumping water down into those areas will be very good for those aquifers for the next couple of -- oh, probably weeks or so with these rain showers really going to help. We'll switch your attention now from this drought area here to the wet area up here. Not a drop in the sky. Nothing. Not a cloud up here coming down for the next really five to six days. Nice and dry up here. We have finally taken the rain from where it was and pushed it down to the south.

And here's what happens. On Friday, some south Florida showers, comes back up Saturday, by Sunday inching ever so slowly. And there's more rain in the Gulf of Mexico Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. So we will have some good news for the next couple of days for the folks down there.

Leon, back to you.

HARRIS: All right, good deal. Thanks, Chad.

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