How hot did it get in Florida? And will we break more records? What the forecast says
If you sweltered on a piping-hot Tuesday, you can take a little comfort knowing that Wednesday may be a degree or two cooler.
Not that you’ll feel the difference. We’re baking under a heat dome, after all.
Even with slightly lower temperatures in the forecast, South Florida could still tie or break a heat record, according to CBS News Miami meteorologist Lissette Gonzalez. She expects a high of 95 degrees for Miami.
If Miami hits 95 — and the National Weather Service in Miami says it could be close — that would tie the record for hottest July 12, when it hit 95 in 1981.
READ MORE: So far, it’s Miami’s hottest year and a sign of the future
Here’s what to know about the records and the forecast:
Tuesday records
▪ Miami hit 96 on Tuesday, beating a heat record of 95 set on July 11, 2010, the National Weather Service reported.
Brian McNoldy, senior research associate at the University of Miami’s Rosentiel School, reported that Tuesday afternoon’s heat index rose to 108.3 degrees, a record high “feels-like” temperature for the day and the third consecutive day to notch a 108 heat index reading.
▪ Marathon in the middle Florida Keys set a heat record with 98 degrees, the island’s hottest July 11 since 1991, according to the weather service in Key West. That was the eighth consecutive day that Marathon set or tied the daily high temperature record.
At least we aren’t Arizona —yet — where every July afternoon in Phoenix, 12 so far, has hit 110 degrees or more, according to NBC 12 News. And that’s regular air temperature, not heat index, which adds in humidity. Wednesday will continue the streak, bringing it to a 13th day of 110 or more, the third longest stretch on record. The most consecutive days at 110 or more in Phoenix was 18 days in the summer of 1974, President Nixon’s last months in office.
Wednesday forecast
Temperatures in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and the Keys are expected to reach the low- to mid-90s again on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Miami.
A heat advisory is in effect until 8 p.m. Thursday, with an expected heat index of 109 in South Florida and Southwest Florida, the weather service said.
What’s happening with disturbance?
The National Hurricane Center is monitoring a low pressure area more than 500 miles east-northeast of Bermuda on Wednesday morning. The disturbance has a 40% chance of developing in 48 hours and 50% in a week, but is not considered a threat to Florida and its turn north over the weekend into cooler waters will hurt its chances of developing.
Heat relief
Where can you go for some heat relief Wednesday that isn’t an obvious place like Alaska?
Would you consider flying to Seattle? That’s where the high will be 83, according to WSVN meteorologist Phil Ferro.
This story was originally published July 12, 2023 at 10:00 AM.
