South Florida experienced another stifling hot day Tuesday, as Hurricane Idalia brought humidity to the region rather than cloud cover or rainfall.
Winds and thunderstorms began to pick up later in the day, however, as the outer bands of Idalia began to arrive. The National Weather Service issued severe thunderstorm warnings for Miami, Hialeah and Miami Gardens late Tuesday afternoon.
The weather service had also issued a heat advisory for Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties earlier in the day, saying “feels-like” temperatures would reach between 105 and 110 degrees late Tuesday morning through the afternoon.
Idalia, churning up the Gulf of Mexico on its approach to Florida, had already brought rain and cloud cover to other areas along the west coast during the day. But in South Florida, the storm was mainly upping the “dew point,” or the measure of the amount of moisture in the air, while the sun continued to beat down.
That’s because south-southeasterly winds generated by Idalia are moving warmer, wetter air from the equator to the area, said Shawn Bhatti, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Miami.
South Florida is basically under a “tropical airmass,” along with already stifling daytime heat from the sun, he said.
Wednesday will be close to heat advisory criteria, but slightly cooler, as Idalia makes landfall and the “outer spiral” rain bands from the storm arrive in South Florida.
“Tomorrow will probably be less oppressive and more rainy,” Bhatti said.
Wednesday will likely have “the most impactful” weather from Idalia, according to a Tuesday morning forecast from the weather service, and winds and rain began to ramp up Tuesday as the storm approaches.
South Floridians can expect bands of rain and squalls beginning Tuesday and continuing Wednesday, with wind gusts as high as 30 to 40 mph, along with isolated tornadoes and some urban and coastal flooding.
The chance of hurricane-force winds is below 5% over all of South Florida. The region can expect 1-2 inches of rain through Wednesday evening, with locally higher amounts.
The weather should begin to subside Thursday, which may also be the hottest day of the week, where feels-like temperatures could exceed 110 degrees and require excessive heat warnings in some areas as winds from Idalia continue. Friday and Saturday will see much of the same.
By Labor Day Weekend, however, drier, cooler air and blue skies will follow in the wake of Idalia. A northerly flow, accelerated by Idalia’s gustier winds, will spread across the region, and South Floridians may not see any rain at all.
“As of now, this weekend actually looks pretty nice,” Bhatti said. But it’s “still early. We still need to see how things evolve.”
