South Florida's Flood Watch Runs Through Monday Evening, With a Coastal Flood Advisory Behind It Through Tuesday
Bands of heavy rain are moving onshore through the evening, the station feed has flipped Monday to rain showers (code 82), and the National Weather Service expects another 1 to 3 inches — 3 to 5 in the heavier bands — before the watch expires tonight.
South Florida is spending Monday evening the way the National Weather Service said it would: under a flood watch. The watch covers all of South Florida through Monday evening, with bands of heavy rain moving onshore periodically and storms from the Gulf pushing across the area through the evening, according to the NWS office in Miami as reported by USA TODAY's Florida Connect team. The station's own live Open-Meteo feed agrees with the sky: at the evening read it showed 75.8 degrees under code 82 — rain showers — with Monday itself now coded 82 at a 48 percent rain chance, a high of 82.3 and a low of 75.3.
The numbers behind the watch are the story. The weather service expects an additional 1 to 3 inches of rain across the area, with localized amounts of 3 to 5 inches in heavier banding and isolated peak amounts that could reach six to nine inches. 'Isolated to scattered areas of flash flooding will be possible, with the main impact being street flooding, road closures, and limited impact to structures in flood prone areas,' the NWS office said. Behind the watch, a coastal flood advisory remains in effect through Tuesday along the east coast of South Florida — which means Election Day arrives with its own water at the shoreline even as the rain chance on the feed eases: Tuesday reads overcast (code 3), a high of 82.5 and a 26 percent rain chance, before Wednesday's code-82 showers return at 58 percent.
Miami-Dade County's flood guidance, published with the watch, is short enough to memorize. Stay away from floodwater — six inches of swiftly moving water can sweep a person off their feet. If a road is flooded, turn around; the water can be deeper than it appears and can hide debris, sharp objects, downed power lines and dangerous wildlife. If water is rising quickly around a car on a flooded road, get out quickly and move to higher ground. The watch expires Monday evening. The driving it warns about happens tonight.
