Flash flood warning for parts of Miami-Dade. Don’t walk in water, get to higher ground.
The sun was out in the morning but the welcome sight, even if it was just playing peek-a-boo, didn’t mean things were back to normal after a three-day deluge.
At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Hialeah Gardens and Medley in Northwest Miami-Dade. The warning will last until 11:30 p.m.
Meteorologists are advising people to avoid walking or driving through flood waters and immediately move to higher ground. NWS estimates about 208,360 people will be affected by the flash flooding.
Earlier in the day, the NWS issued a flood advisory for Miami-Dade Wednesday due to the lingering flooding from torrential rainfall Tuesday and over the Memorial Day weekend, which has led to soggy ground and saturated drains.
By noon, the rains already had begun to fall. By 1 p.m., the mass was edging toward the east coast, from Homestead up to Jupiter in Palm Beach County.
Some of the storms moving toward and over North Miami-Dade and Broward could pack wind gusts of 50 mph, the weather service warned.
Joan Murray, a reporter with the Miami Herald’s news partner CBS4, reported Wednesday afternoon that knee-deep water at Northwest 102nd Street and 13th Avenue had residents trapped inside their homes.
Meteorologists also warned that the line of thunderstorms moving over central Palm Beach County around 2:30 p.m. could also produce damaging wind gusts as the nasty weather continued moving eastward and was expected to last for about four hours .
On a Facebook post, two National Weather Service meteorologists warned of the possibility of flash floods for parts of Miami-Dade including Doral, Sweetwater, Westchester, the western suburbs and northward through Palm Beach into the afternoon.
The flood watch has been extended to 10 p.m. Wednesday, said CBS4 meteorologist Lissette Gonzalez. Up to 3 more inches of rain could fall in isolated afternoon storms, she said.
Areas included in the weather service’s advisory include Miami, Hialeah, Coral Gables, North Miami and Doral.
“Turn around, don’t drown when encountering flooded roads” remains the meteorologists’ mantra. “Most flood deaths occur in vehicles,” the weather service said.
According to the weather service, “rainfall rates, on average, look to be around two to four inches inches per hour — with locally higher amounts possible, especially over locations that receive multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms.”
NBC6 reporter Kelly Blanco posted video on Twitter of someone rowing a boat near the Palmetto Expressway Wednesday morning.
Noah’s Ark: The Sequel
Wednesday morning’s sun was not a mere tease. The region may have had some dry air for a while. Hollywood beach actually looked glorious early in the morning.
But the summer pattern has been set in motion. At this rate, we could be a film set for a Noah’s Ark sequel.
Expect more rain the rest of the week in South Florida, mainly in the afternoons.
“Wednesday will look more like our typical summer weather pattern with storms in the afternoon,” Heather Nepaul, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told the Miami Herald Wednesday. “We should have the lingering storms we have been seeing.”
The week’s forecast
The weather service put Wednesday’s rain and storm chance at 40% and between 20% to 40% through Sunday. Chances go up again to 50% Tuesday.
The stronger showers and storms may produce wind gusts over 45 mph, the weather service in Miami said. Waterspouts may be possible across Atlantic waters and Lake Okeechobee, and there is a moderate risk for rip currents along all east coast beaches Wednesday — so be careful if you are swimming at opened beaches.
Some fog will also be possible overnight Wednesday.
The Florida Keys, which will open once again to non-residents on June 1, could welcome them in to some wetness.
According to the weather service in Key West, a broad area of low pressure developing somewhere near the Yucatán Peninsula in seven to 10 days will bring southeast winds over the island chain. This “usually increases moisture and rain chances for us.”
Drive safer
Miami-Dade police remind drivers that using your hazard flashers is not proper — it’s dangerous and foolish — when driving in the rain. And yet Florida drivers still do it.
The bright spot in all of this?
Temperatures will be rather comfy through the beginning of next week with highs around 85 degrees and lows in the upper 70s.
This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 11:02 AM.
