Broward, Miami-Dade under new flood watches with forecast calling for more heavy rain

Kathy Laskowski, Angie DiMichele, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
·2 min read

South Florida may still feel the aftermaths of Tropical Storm Alex early this week as parts of the region are again under a flood watch through at least the end of Tuesday.

Because the region was already swamped from heavy rain over the weekend from the disturbance that became Tropical Storm Alex, even a few more inches of rain for South Florida could mean potential flooding, National Weather Service Miami meteorologist Barry Baxter said.

The National Weather Service in Miami issued the flood watch on Monday for coastal Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

The potential for excessive rain begins Monday afternoon and extends until the end of Tuesday because of a trailing edge left over from Tropical Storm Alex, which is well out in the Atlantic Ocean.

Alex lost its tropical-storm status Monday evening and is expected to dissipate by Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. update.

The National Weather Service on Monday said that because of the heavy saturation from the weekend rain, an additional rainfall total of up to 6 inches might generate localized flash flooding.

“We had so much rain over the weekend it’s not going to take much to cause flooding because we’re so saturated on the ground, we can’t take any more water,” Baxter said.

Areas largely east of Florida’s Turnpike are under the new flood watches, stretching from Deerfield Beach to Homestead, according to the National Weather Service. Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Homestead all have an “elevated” risk of excessive rainfall into Tuesday night.

The watches could be extended to include parts of Palm Beach County during the week.

Baxter said Alex brought between 6 and 12 total inches of rainfall to the Broward and Miami-Dade County areas on Friday and Saturday, with some areas in Broward getting nearly 15 inches.

Hollywood and Margate had just under 15 total inches of rain over the two days, while the Pompano Bay area of Pompano Beach saw 11 inches. Biscayne Bay Park in Miami-Dade saw nearly 13 inches of rainfall.

West of Boca Raton had about 8 inches, Baxter said, with areas near the Palm Beach International Airport got about 6 inches.

The forecast for Fort Lauderdale/Broward County calls for heavy rain Monday night and Tuesday. Rain is in the forecast at least through Friday.

The forecast for Boca Raton/Palm Beach County calls for a 60% chance of rain through Thursday.

Baxter said forecasters are expecting at least another 1 to 2 inches of rain in the next two days, with some areas getting 3 to 4 more inches. The National Weather Service Miami may extend the flood watches through Wednesday.

“The storms are going to be slow movers, so they’re going to drift from southwest to northeast. They’re not going to move much, so it’s going to dump a lot of rain over the area, wherever they do develop,” he said.