High winds, flooding rain leave thousands without power in South Florida
The FOX Forecast Center said the tropical storm-like conditions downed trees and power lines and led to a rough morning commute for millions.
Floods, winds rip through Florida on Thursday
Dual surface lows are currently situated over both the central Gulf and tucked into the southern Florida Peninsula, the FOX Forecast Center said. Locally heavy rain will be possible along Florida's Space Coast through the day as the surface low scoots northeast up the Florida coast, but the highest risk for locally heavy rain will occur later this afternoon and evening.
MIAMI – Tens of thousands of people were without power in South Florida on Thursday after high winds and flooding rain blasted the Sunshine State.
The FOX Forecast Center said the tropical storm-like conditions downed trees and power lines and led to a rough morning commute for millions.
The dangerous winds even prompted the National Weather Service to issue a High Wind Warning for coastal Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
According to PowerOutage.us, outages peaked at about 125,000 customers in South Florida early Thursday morning, but that number has since dropped to less than half by the end of the day.
A Flood Watch has been issued for coastal counties of east-central Florida through Thursday evening, where upwards of 15" of rain had fallen during the storm.
The abundant tropical moisture began surging into the Sunshine State on Tuesday, leading to some communities to report record-breaking rainfall.
Fort Lauderdale sees more heavy rainfall
So much rain has fallen in South Florida that Fort Lauderdale was crowned the wettest major city in America, with more than 100 inches of rain this year – and counting.
The weather also prompted Broward County Public Schools and Broward College to close Thursday.
Fort Lauderdale city officials said the city experienced an additional 4-8 inches of heavy rainfall Wednesday night. Another 2-4 inches of rain is possible through Thursday afternoon, along with wind gusts up to 25-40 mph.
"There are reports of power outages, mooring issues, road flooding, and wind damage across the area," the city said on X, formerly Twitter. "The groundwater table is near saturation, which means additional rain may not be able to drain."
Fort Lauderdale is expecting the highest tide of the year at 10:30 a.m. EST Thursday, which could exacerbate the current conditions, city officials added.
Weather time-lapse of a rainy Fort Lauderdale
Off-and-on rainfall is expected to impact South Florida through Thursday, leading to flooding concerns.
Coastal flood alerts for Louisiana and Mississippi
Additionally, areas along the Gulf Coast from southeastern Louisiana to southwestern Mississippi are under coastal flood alerts through Thursday evening. Gusty northeasterly winds of up to 45 mph are pushing elevated tides into the coastal lowlands and causing some beach erosion and minor shoreline flooding.