The recent dryness makes South Florida Water Management District officials "borderline uncomfortable" about the region's water reserves, said Bob Howard, district operations director. "We don't have a lot of rain on the horizon."
But the situation is not critical, and relief could be on the way with some anticipated rain this weekend, state forestry officials said. Deborah Hanley, meteorologist for the Florida Division of Forestry, said the arid conditions appear short term.
Before last month, South Florida's November-to-May dry season looked rather nondescript, according to water district meteorologist Geoff Shaughnessy.
Then March turned into the driest month since 1945 for the 16-county water district as a whole, and the second driest since 1932, he said.
Last month brought just a taste of rain, roughly three-quarters of an inch, to both Palm Beach and Broward counties -- 22 percent and 27 percent of their normal precipitation, respectively.
Outdoor burning has been banned every day so far this month and every day but one during March, Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue spokesman Don DeLucia said.
In recent weeks, the Division of Forestry has periodically issued "red flag" warnings when extremely low humidity, wind and other factors conspired to make green spaces and brush significantly more flammable.
The division fought two brush fires in Miami-Dade since Friday, including one at Krome Avenue and Okeechobee Road that burned 3,400 acres and forced the evacuation of a trailer park, said Fred Boehm, acting manager the forestry division's Everglades District.
"It's definitely dry and we definitely should be careful" about sparking fires, he said.
No major brush fires have erupted in Broward or Palm Beach counties, though juveniles intentionally set two small fires that were caught early -- one April 2 west of West Palm Beach and one in The Acreage April 3, Fire-Rescue's DeLucia said.
Water is being moved out of Lake Okeechobee, South Florida's back-up reservoir, to quench the thirst of inland crops and coastal cities, district officials said.
The risk of a water shortage is low, Howard said, "but from this day forward we'll be keeping a very close watch on water supply."
Environmentally, the weather has created nearly ideal situations in South Florida waters, Howard said.
Lake Okeechobee had fallen by Tuesday to just under 14.5 feet, a level more nurturing of its aquatic plants and fish.
Estuaries have good balances of salt and fresh water, and wading birds in the southern Everglades are finding marshes suitable for nesting, Howard said.
