A tropical storm warning issued for South Florida and Keys with rain, flooding expected
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The Sunshine State could face Tropical Storm Alex as soon as Saturday, and a tropical storm warning was issued Friday morning for South Florida, West Florida, the Keys and Cuba.
Forecasters expect the system will strengthen into a tropical storm Friday as it moves across the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, toward Florida. The National Hurricane Center started issuing forecasts for Potential Tropical Cyclone One Thursday evening, when it issued a tropical storm watch for the region.
A hurricane plane has already detected tropical-storm-force winds. A warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected within 36 hours. The system is expected to make landfall on Florida’s west coast Saturday.
Although the hurricane center predicts the center of the storm will pass through the middle of the state, the winds and rains of the lopsided storm will likely be felt most in South Florida.
The worst of the weather will likely stretch from Friday afternoon through late Saturday night. Forecasters say the big worry for this storm isn’t the wind, but the flooding rain. A flood watch is in effect for South Florida through Sunday morning.
“The main impact from this system continues to be widespread heavy rain that is expected to spread over portions of western Cuba, the southern Florida Peninsula, the Florida Keys, and the northwestern Bahamas during the next couple of days,” the National Hurricane Center said in its Friday morning discussion.
Heavy rain is forecast for portions of South Florida, the Keys and Central Florida through Saturday.
South Florida could see about four to eight inches of rain on Friday and Saturday, with some small areas seeing up to a foot, according to the hurricane center. Flash flooding is also possible in streets, homes, and parks across the region. Isolated tornadoes could also be possible.
The South Florida Water Management District has been lowering canal levels across the region all week in preparation, and the district said it stands ready to handle the deluge.
But South Florida should get ready for street flooding.
“It really depends on where the rain hits, where the heaviest amount of rain falls, which direction the storm is headed,” said Randy Smith, spokesman for water district.
The hurricane center said the disturbance is disorganized and moving slowly across the Gulf of Mexico, where it faces some unfriendly conditions but is still predicted to slightly strengthen. As of Friday’s 5 a.m. update, the disturbance was in the Gulf of Mexico, about 420 miles southwest of Fort Myers. The system is moving northeast, toward Florida, with maximum sustained winds near 40 mph with higher gusts.
Those winds are expected to pick up slightly if it strengthens into a tropical storm. South Florida could start to feel those tropical storm-force winds as early as Friday night.
The west coast and the Keys could see up to three feet of storm surge and hazardous rip currents.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for the west coast of Florida (from south of the Middle of Longboat Key to Englewood), the east coast of Florida south of the Volusia/Brevard County Line to Card Sound Bridge, Lake Okeechobee, Northwestern Bahamas, the Cuban provinces of Mayabeque, Havana, Artemisa, Pinardel Rio.
The hurricane center says tropical storm conditions are expected in the warning area in Cuba Friday, with Florida starting to feel the storm Friday night and Saturday. The northwestern Bahamas could start to feel tropical storm conditions on Saturday.
NOAA predicted another active hurricane season for 2022, with 14 to 21 named storms, 6 to 10 of which might become hurricanes.
This was the first time in eight years that a named storm didn’t form ahead of the official start of hurricane season, June 1. The official season lasts for six months and ends on Nov. 30.
Miami Herald staff writer Michelle Marchante contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 5:11 PM with the headline "A tropical storm warning issued for South Florida and Keys with rain, flooding expected."
