Mostly paradise for Miami’s Presidents Day weekend events. But that’s a problem
There’s rain in the Presidents Day forecast, but will it be enough to ease the increasing drought conditions that are parching parts of South Florida?
Monday’s forecast from the National Weather Service in Miami has some encouraging news.
There is a near 50% chance for showers from 2 a.m. through 11 a.m., with a high temperature of 81 and a morning low of 68.
The rain percentage dips to 35% in the early afternoon to 5 p.m., about the time tens of thousands of people will be leaving the three-day Coconut Grove Arts Festival that opens Saturday under mostly sunny skies and a high of 75 degrees and an early morning low of 64.
There’s only a slight chance of rain Friday through Sunday, peaking around 10% on Valentine’s Day Saturday after 9 a.m., according to the weather service.
After Monday’s higher chance of less than an inch of rain, the dry stretch resumes Tuesday into the workweek.
“An isolated storm at best,” WSVN-Channel 7 meteorologist Erika Delgado said of the Presidents Day rain chances.
Is that going to be enough?
It’s good for South Florida’s busiest week of the new year, given that Presidents Day weekend boasts outdoor lures such as the Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show all over Miami Beach, in addition to the Grove arts festival. And next Thursday brings the 25th annual version of the popular Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival to town — and there’s next to no chance of rain that day and temperatures should hover around 80.
For the Biscayne Aquifer that provides most of the drinking water for South Florida, it’s just drops in an emptying bucket. The aquifer is in the lower 10th percentile of historic levels, according to the South Florida Water Management District. When it gets too low, there’s a risk of salt water in the drinking supply.
According to meteorologists, South Florida’s dry season that began in October has only given the Miami area just above four inches of rain. That leaves a four-inch deficit for what we need to properly stock the aquifer.
And it’s not just Miami in a deficit. The Fort Lauderdale area has been a bit wetter with about six inches of rain, but that’s also four inches on the dry side there. Key West, since Dec. 1, is just over 1.5 inches, three inches short of where it ought to be.
General conditions
Friday opened to dense fog, with visibility less than a quarter of a mile, which delayed some flights for around 15 minutes at Miami International Airport, according to CBS News Miami meteorologist Scott Withers.
Otherwise, it’s a warm and dry kickoff to the long holiday weekend with the featured Boat Show running through Sunday and the Coconut Grove Arts Festival through Monday, Withers reported. Homestead looks to be the hot spot at 81 Friday afternoon and Miami and Fort Lauderdale at 80 and 78 degrees, respectively. The cool spots were Marathon’s 71 and Key West at 74.
Latest on the drought
The National Weather Service in Miami issued updates on the drought intensity on Friday morning.
Metro Broward, Southeast metro Palm Beach and metro Miami-Dade are considered in the moderate range. Most of South Florida, however, including Miami-Dade and Broward, is in a severe drought. And portions of the Everglades and around Lake Okeechobee were elevated to an extreme drought.
CBS News Miami broke it down: Miami-Dade finds 38% of its region in the extreme range — mostly interior in the Everglades. Homestead, Kendall, Doral and the inner edges of Hialeah are in the severe range. Miami, Key Biscayne and Miami Beach are in the dry range.
Broward finds 64% of its territory in the severe range, including Weston and the interior parts of Pembroke Pines. Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and Coral Springs are in the moderate range.
“The drought expanding across the region is one of the worst since data was collected by the Drought Monitor in 1999,” Withers reported.
“Make sure the dishwasher’s full before you start running it,” Withers said at the top of his Friday morning broadcast — a tip on conserving water. “We need the rain.”
