Home Weather Stormy Friday, Drenching Tropical Rains Ahead

Stormy Friday, Drenching Tropical Rains Ahead

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tropicalFriday will be stormy in South Florida, and some drenching tropical rains are ahead later this weekend and early next week. Friday starts with east coast and Keys showers and storms, some periods of sun, and highs in the sweltering low 90s. An afternoon and evening round of storms will develop along a building ocean breeze.

Storms will push through the metro areas of Miami-Dade and Broward and then into the interior and Gulf coast. The breeze will increase the risk of dangerous rip currents at the Atlantic beaches on Friday and into early next week.

TropicalWe’ll see showers and storms throughout South Florida on Saturday, along with highs near 90 degrees — and after that, our weather will depend on the disturbance that we’ve been watching.

We can expect periods of heavy rain (leading to localized flooding in spots) and gusty winds on Sunday and Monday, with a high risk of rip currents at the Atlantic and Gulf beaches.

We should see a transition to more typical summertime afternoon storms and highs in the low 90s on Tuesday — but of course, all of this depends on the wave remaining disorganized.

tropicalThe wave in the southeastern Bahamas has been battling wind shear and dry air longer than originally forecast, and that has prevented development. Most of the computer models have shifted to the south, and the wave could interact with Cuba long enough to be completely disrupted. The National Hurricane Center gives the wave a low chance of developing into a depression by early Sunday and a medium chance through midweek. We’ll watch it over the weekend — but it now appears the biggest impacts in South Florida will be heavy rain on Sunday into Tuesday — with the possibility of rainfall totals of 5 or more inches over the next few days.

Elsewhere in the tropics, Tropical Storm Gaston is expected to regain hurricane strength. At 5 am Friday, Gaston was located near 23.9 North, 47.6 West, and was moving northwest at 17 miles per hour. Maximum sustained winds were 65 miles per hour. Gaston’s outer bands will bring rain and gusty winds to Bermuda this weekend.

And an area of disturbed weather in the northern Gulf of Mexico has a low chance of developing over the next 5 days.

[vc_message message_box_style=”solid” message_box_color=”turquoise”]By Donna Thomas, SouthFloridaReporter.com Meteorologist, Aug. 26, 2016[/vc_message]
Donna Thomas has studied hurricanes for two decades. She holds a PhD in history when her experience with Hurricane Andrew ultimately led her to earn a degree in broadcast meteorology from Mississippi State University. Donna spent 15 years at WFOR-TV (CBS4 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale), where she worked as a weather producer with hurricane experts Bryan Norcross and David Bernard. She also produced hurricane specials and weather-related features and news coverage, as well as serving as pool TV producer at the National Hurricane Center during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Donna also served as a researcher on NOAA's Atlantic Hurricane Database Reanalysis Project. Donna specializes in Florida's hurricane history.