Rain in forecast over the next few days in Miami-Dade

Stormy days are ahead for dehydrated Miami-Dade County.

New southerly winds will be developing throughout the week, causing thunderstorms for Miami’s coastal and metro areas.

“Finally, the patterns have switched,” said Dan Gregoria, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service, who explained that West Miami-Dade and the Gulf Coast have been getting the most storms due to easterly wind patterns.

Gregoria said the storms will bring much-needed rain to help relieve the drought, although they’ll also bring lightning.

“Since we haven’t been having many storms, people need to be aware of the lightning risks,” Gregoria said, explaining that lightning can strike up to 10 miles away from where the thunderstorm is occurring. “It doesn’t need to be raining in your location to have lightning.”

Additionally, lightning could increase the risk of more brush fires, due to South Florida’s dry weather. Lightning may have been the cause for two brush fires that were sparked in Northwest Dade Monday, which caused more than 500 acres of grass and trees to burn, according to the Florida Forest Service.

“It’s rare this year to get as many brush fires as we’ve seen,” Gregoria said. “That’s really indicative of how dry it’s been this season.”

This story was originally published July 14, 2015 at 7:56 PM with the headline "Rain in forecast over the next few days in Miami-Dade."