{"id":210423,"date":"2026-03-29T08:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T08:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/210423\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T08:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T08:42:13","slug":"strong-winds-high-surf-and-elevated-fire-risk-threaten-northeast-florida-southeast-georgia-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/210423\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong winds, high surf, and elevated fire risk threaten northeast Florida, southeast Georgia this weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">JACKSONVILLE, Fla.  \u2013 A dry cold front is bringing a range of hazardous conditions to northeast Florida and southeast Georgia this weekend, from dangerous surf and rip currents along the coast to elevated fire danger inland.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Highs on Saturday will range in the upper 60s to low 70s in northeast Florida, mid-to-upper 60s in southeast Georgia under partly to mostly cloudy skies. Windy conditions will be the biggest hazard throughout the day.<\/p>\n<p>Coastal wind, surf, rip current hazards<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">A Wind Advisory is in effect Saturday for gusts of 40\u201345 mph along the coast and the St. Johns River Basin. Inland areas \u2014 including Western Clay, Western Putnam, Bradford, Eastern and Western Alachua, and Union counties \u2014 are also under a Wind Advisory from 9 a.m. through midnight Saturday, with northeast winds of 20\u201330 mph and gusts up to 40 mph.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Expect gusty winds to blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could come down, and scattered power outages are possible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">A Gale Warning is in effect for all Atlantic waters from Saturday morning through Sunday morning. Boaters are urged to stay off the water if possible and secure vessels ahead of the system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Beach conditions will be dangerous this weekend. A High Rip Current Risk is in effect from 8 a.m. Saturday through Monday evening, and a High Surf Advisory runs from 2 p.m. Saturday through 5 a.m. Monday. Breaking waves are expected to build to 5\u20137 feet Saturday afternoon, climbing to 8\u201310 feet Saturday night and Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Inexperienced swimmers should stay out of the water entirely. Those who do swim should do so near a lifeguard. Anyone caught in a rip current should relax, float, and avoid swimming against the current. If possible, swim parallel to the shoreline. If unable to escape, face the shore and call or wave for help.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Elevated tide levels are also possible Sunday morning along the Atlantic Coast, which could compound beach erosion concerns.<\/p>\n<p>High rip currentCoastal hazard summary<\/p>\n<p>Wind Advisory:\u00a09 a.m. Saturday \u2013 midnight Saturday; NE winds 20\u201330 mph, gusts to 40 mph (inland counties)<\/p>\n<p>Wind Advisory:\u00a0All day Saturday along the coast and St. Johns River Basin; gusts 40\u201345 mph<\/p>\n<p>Gale Warning:\u00a0Saturday morning \u2013 Sunday morning; all Atlantic waters<\/p>\n<p>High Rip Current Risk:\u00a08 a.m. Saturday \u2013 Monday evening; all northeast Florida, southeast Georgia beaches<\/p>\n<p>High Surf Advisory:\u00a02 p.m. Saturday \u2013 5 a.m. Monday; waves 5\u20137 ft. Saturday afternoon, 8\u201310 ft. overnight<\/p>\n<p>Elevated Tides:\u00a0Possible Sunday morning along the Atlantic Coast<\/p>\n<p>Fire danger, drought conditions<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Inland Southeast Georgia is under a Red Flag Warning Saturday, with conditions ripe for rapid fire spread.<\/p>\n<p>Minimum relative humidity:\u00a020\u201325%<\/p>\n<p>Northeast winds:\u00a015\u201320 mph with gusts of 20\u201330 mph<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Fire danger remains elevated elsewhere across the region as well. Those conditions are being worsened by ongoing drought. Extreme to Exceptional Drought conditions continue area-wide, leaving vegetation dry and highly combustible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Residents in fire-prone areas should avoid any outdoor burning and report any signs of smoke or fire immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Red Flag WarningWind Advisory<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A dry cold front is bringing a range of hazardous conditions to northeast Florida and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":210424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,508,221],"class_list":["post-210423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-forecast","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}