A forest fire on the northern tip of Andros Island, Bahamas, is sending smoke to South Florida today, as strong southeast winds carry the scent of the blaze directly to Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Katy Huddlestun, who lives on a canal off the New River in River Oaks, Fort Lauderdale, woke up to the smell of smoke.
“Around 7 I went outside, smelled the smoke, and obviously the first reaction is, ‘What did I leave on?’” she said. After inspecting the house, she forgot about it, but later received a call from her brother in Pembroke Pines saying he smelled smoke as well.
Andros island, the largest in the Bahamas, is 149 miles southeast of Fort Lauderdale. “The island is to our east, and our wind direction today is easterly, so you can’t rule out a little bit of that smoke making it to a portion of the area,” said National Weather Service meteorologist George Rizzuto.
“In terms of air quality effects here (in South Florida), it would be really minimal. We’re not expecting any wideֱ reduced air quality,” Rizzuto said.
Monday’s forecast from the NWS called for southeast winds from 14 mph to 16 mph, gusting to as high as 24 mph.
Winds should continue to flow from the southeast through Wednesday evening, and start to shift southerly on Thursday.
A release from Bahamian official Leonardo D. Lightbourne on Tuesday stated that the fire was having “adverse effects” on settlements in the heavily wooded area, and that brush fires in that section of the island have been a “legacy issue that have plagued the North Andros communities for decades.”
