Sick of all the rain and flooding? When will it end? What the Miami forecast says
Apparently the weather has taken to loitering in South Florida.
“After a pretty dry stretch, a quiet stretch throughout much of the dry season, now we’re having this pattern,” said Sammy Hadi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami.
“This,” in exhaled enunciation, is the flooding rains much of Miami-Dade, Broward and parts of the Keys have seen since Easter Sunday.
The Monday and Tuesday downpours that led to flood, wind and high surf advisories may only be the lesser Part 1.
When will the rains end?
Friday and Saturday, Hadi forecasts.
But Part 2 on Wednesday and Thursday may well be wetter than the earlier part of the week. And Miami-Dade County is urging residents to prepare for more rain and flooding as it works to protect critical infrastructure.
Hadi explains the weather pattern that has given us such a wet week so far:
“Basically, what’s happened, at least right now, there’s a frontal boundary in the Florida Straits,” he told the Miami Herald on Tuesday. “It’s basically along the Florida Keys. And basically what’s resulted is today the bulk of the heavy rainfall will stay largely confined to the Florida Keys, the Florida Straits and Miami-Dade County.
Midweek weather
“But the issue is as this frontal boundary begins to lift further north, this warm front begins to push further north across the area beginning tonight into Wednesday. And during the day on Thursday, there will be the potential for all this heavy rain to work back up northwards across the area. And in doing so, there’s the potential for thunderstorms as well,” Hadi said.
South Florida is not looking at a higher chance of severe storms but there is a potential of one or two stronger storms, according to Hadi.
“The main threat with this is mainly heavy rainfall and flooding. Now once this frontal boundary pushes north over the area on Thursday, Thursday afternoon to Friday, Friday and Saturday will look more like an afternoon thunderstorm. It’s not going to be a continuous washout, like Wednesday and Thursday,” Hadi said.
The weather service puts rain chances at 90% Wednesday afternoon, with east winds between 17 and 20 mph and gusts around 25 mph. Wednesday evening drops the numbers a bit to 50%.
Thursday runs 60% until the evening.
The potential for flooding remains Wednesday and Thursday.
“With the soil already being wet it’s not going to take much, especially in the drainage areas that don’t drain that easy,” Hadi warns.
Rain chances drop to 40% and hold as such on Friday during the day.
KNOW MORE: Flood managers’ meeting in Miami sees lots of flooding
Miami-Dade urges communities to be careful
In anticipation of more rain and flooding, Miami-Dade is installing temporary dams around pump stations in vulnerable areas, draining the wastewater system to maximize storage capacity and increasing staff at all wastewater treatment plants to manage heavier flows, it said Tuesday in a news release.
But the county needs help from the public too, and is asking residents to “exercise a high level of caution.”
Here’s what the county recommends:
▪ Turn around, don’t drown: It is never safe to drive or walk into flood waters: Don’t drive or walk around road barriers or through large puddles. Hidden debris may be just under the surface, which could hurt you or disable your car.
▪ Help minimize impacts to the wastewater system: Keep manhole covers closed and decrease water use in the morning and evening — which are the heaviest usage times — during heavy rain.
▪ Prepare your business and home for flooding: Pay close attention if you are in a low-lying area, near water, or downstream from a dam. Even a very small stream or dry creek bed can overflow and create flooding.
Now that you know what to do if you encounter floods, here’s how the weekend weather forecast.
Friday and Saturday weather
Friday evening and Saturday should be mostly clear.
“Because we’re going to have southerly winds, most of the activity should basically take place across Palm Beach County and maybe Broward. But because we’re having winds out of the south it should push stuff to the north away from the immediate coastline,” Hadi explained.
That doesn’t mean it’s going to be dry Friday and Saturday, but drier than it’s been in a week.
Another front
And then comes another Sunday and Monday combo.
Blame it on another frontal boundary during the second half of the weekend that could result in higher rain chances, according to Hadi’s radar.
Rain chances are at 40% Sunday and 60% Sunday.
“At least the respite of this continuous, you know, moisture being pushed at us should have a little bit of a momentary break on Friday and Saturday,” Hadi says.
Miami Herald staff writer Omar Rodríguez Ortiz contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 11, 2023 at 4:07 PM with the headline "Sick of all the rain and flooding? When will it end? What the Miami forecast says."
