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Effective Tuesday, March 30, 2021, at 200 PM Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), 1800 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the NWS Weather Forecast Office in Miami, FL, (MFL) will change Fire Weather Forecast Zones encompassing Collier, Glades, Hendry, and Palm Beach Counties in south Florida. After this change, all fire forecasts and related products will use the new zone numbers and names shown below.
If March 30, 2021, is declared a Critical Weather Day, this implementation will be postponed to April 1, 2021.
These changes are intended to provide increased flexibility and improved accuracy of forecast, watch, warning, and advisory products in the fire weather program.
Four current zones will be converted into nine separate zones. These new zones are being divided to optimize issuance of hazard products for conditions that vary significantly near Lake Okeechobee and across Collier County due to sea breeze influences.
The new zones are as follows:
| Universal Geographic Code | Zone Name | Locations in the Zone |
| FLZ163 |
Glades County Lake Region |
Moore Haven, Brighton Indian Reservation, Buckhead Ridge, Lakeport |
| FLZ263 | Glades County | Palmdale |
| FLZ166 | Hendry County Lake Region | Clewiston |
| FLZ266 | Hendry County | LaBelle, Felda, Big Cypress Indian Reservation |
| FLZ167 | Palm Beach County Lake Region | Belle Glade, South Bay, Pahokee, Canal Point, Dupuis Reserve |
| FLZ267 | Inland Palm Beach County | Loxahatchee, Wellington, Holey Land Wildlife Management Area |
| FLZ069 | Coastal Collier County | Naples, Marco Island, and Everglades City |
| FLZ170 | Big Cypress Preserve | Big Cypress National Preserve |
| FLZ270 | Northern Collier County | Immokalee, Ave Maria, Orangetree, East Naples, and Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge |
| FLZ370 | Southwest Collier County | Jerome, Copeland, Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, and Picayune Strand State Forest |
Current Fire Zones
| Universal Geographic Codes | Current Fire Weather Zone Forecast Name |
| FLZ070 | Inland Collier County |
| FLZ066 | Hendry County |
| FLZ063 | Glades County |
| FLZ067 | Inland Palm Beach County |
| FLZ069 | Coastal Collier County |
NWS products affected by the WFO Miami, FL by these fire weather zone changes are listed below
| AWIPS ID | WMO Heading | Product Name |
| FWFMFL | FNUS52 KMFL | Fire Weather Forecast |
| RFWMFL | WWUS82 KMFL | Fire Weather Message |
| AFDMFL | FXUS62 KMFL | Area Forecast Discussion |
NWS partners and users should take the appropriate action to ensure systems recognize the new UGC (Z) and new zone alignments and names.
Updated public zone shapefiles are online at: (Links below must have a date showing they were updated as of the date this notices take effect.)
https://www.weather.gov/gis/FireZones
For more information, please contact:
Steven Ippoliti
Fire Weather Program Leader
NWS Miami, FL
Melinda Bailey
NWS Southern Region Headquarters
Fort Worth, TX
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