Flood and wind advisories issued for South Florida, and the storms could spawn tornados
Parts of South Florida are under a flood advisory as expected rain soaked Miami-Dade and Broward on Friday morning.
By noon, CBS4 meteorologist Lissette Gonzalez reported rainfall totals for several locations in South Florida. Opa-locka has seen 4 inches. Oakland Park 2.75 inches. Nearly 2 inches in Fort Lauderdale. Miami recorded 1.33 inches and West Kendall had 1.69 inches, Gonzalez said.
By 3:30 p.m., just when it seemed that the wetness had eased, and puddles had receded in many places, like drenched Opa-locka, the weather service issues a special marine warning.
Another cluster of northward-developing thunderstorms about 20 to 60 nautical miles from southern Miami-Dade County’s coast suggested waterspouts were possible.
Friday dawned under a deluge
The day began with the National Weather Service in Miami issuing an advisory for portions of southeastern Broward through the rush hour due to gusty winds, heavy rainfall, and the chance for funnel clouds. Similar warnings have been issued for Miami-Dade.
The service issued a flash flood warning for parts of Miami-Dade — including Hialeah, North Miami and Miami Lakes — until 11:45 a.m.
Parts of the Florida Keys had already set rainfall records Thursday and more is falling through Friday.
The passing storms have already spawned numerous crashes on Miami-Dade and Broward roadways, including I-95 and the Palmetto Expressway.
A flood advisory for Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park and Wilton Manors extended to 9:30 a.m., said CBS4’s Gonzalez. An advisory in Miami-Dade extended to 10:45 a.m., she added.
A thunderstorm over the Dania Beach and Hollywood area, moving west at 15 mph, “is capable of producing funnel clouds,” said WSVN meteorologist Vivian Gonzalez around rush hour. Davie was also seeing thunderstorms and up to two inches of rain had already fallen across central Broward by 7 a.m., she said. And, by 8 a.m., Liberty City in Miami-Dade was under a line of storms.
Marine conditions, gale warning
In addition, the National Weather Service issued a gale warning for the Atlantic and Biscayne Bay waters, a small craft advisory and a wind advisory for the Atlantic Coast due to wind gusts that could top 35 mph through 8 p.m. Friday.
According to meteorologists, “Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.”
Waterspouts are also a strong possibility.
Disturbance off Florida’s coast
The National Hurricane Center is also monitoring the trough of low pressure off Florida’s coast that currently is producing disorganized shower activity and gusty winds across the Florida Keys, portions of extreme South Florida, and the northwestern Bahamas.
The system has an 80% chance of development and will likely become a tropical or subtropical storm by late Friday or Saturday when it approaches the northwestern Bahamas. The system is expected to move northeastward over the western Atlantic away from the U.S. coast, the hurricane center said.
Florida Keys’ record rain
But no matter what it does, the system is still going to bring heavy rainfall to the Florida Keys, southeast Florida and the Bahamas through Saturday, with tropical-storm-force wind gusts a possibility until Saturday.
The Keys already “crushed” a rainfall record on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in Key West.
By 6 p.m. Thursday, 5.35 inches of rain was recorded in Marathon, topping a 1988 record of 1.2 inches — a more than 4 inch rise. According to the weather service in the Keys Thursday was the “10th wettest day ever.”
Big Pine Key, with 4.93 inches, and Ramrod Key, with 4.14 were the next wettest spots in the Keys, according to the weather service. Key Largo was comparatively drier with just 0.60 of an inch on Thursday.
Friday’s stronger thunderstorms in Marathon and parts of the Middle and Upper Keys may see wind gusts in excess of 40 mph and cloud to surface lightning strikes, the weather service in Key West warned.
The South Florida storms should taper off Sunday, CBS4’s Lissette Gonzalez said.
But the wet weather will also keep temperatures down Friday and Saturday, with highs around 80 degrees. Temperatures rise again Sunday to 90 degrees.
This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 8:08 AM.
