South Florida is surrounded by water this week: the annual king tide season is peaking just as rounds of intense afternoon thunderstorms roll through, leaving low-lying neighborhoods across Miami-Dade under water. Key West recorded 3.64 inches of rain last Thursday, smashing the 2.5-inch daily record set in 1943. Meanwhile a northeaster is driving tidal flooding around Jacksonville through Friday, and parts of northern Florida could see up to 14 inches of rain. The National Weather Service warns of heavy downpours every day this week: never drive through flooded roads.
King tide season in South Florida typically runs September through November, and this year's high tides have arrived during an exceptionally wet week. The Miami Independent reports that Saturday's flooding stunned longtime residents — one said it was the worst he'd seen in 25 years. On Tuesday the National Weather Service put the rain chance at 70%, with the heaviest downpours between 2 and 4 p.m. threatening to compound already-saturated low-lying areas of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Wednesday carries a 60% storm chance, Thursday jumps to 80%, and Friday through Sunday remain breezy and unsettled. Emergency managers urge residents not to drive through flooded roads — "water depth is often impossible to gauge from a vehicle" — and never to drive around barricades.
Last Thursday, torrential downpours turned Key West into a waterway: the 3.64 inches recorded shattered the daily record of 2.5 inches that had stood since 1943. Social media video showed floodwaters completely inundating Duval Street, the island's main tourist strip. Key West police said water was standing on many streets and warned drivers not to create wakes that could push water into nearby properties. The rain also knocked out a traffic light and toppled a tree onto a car, taking down power lines. Other parts of South Florida, including Boca Raton, were also hit hard.
Northeast Florida isn't spared either. A persistent northeaster is bringing strong onshore winds to Jacksonville, with coastal gusts of 25 to 35 mph Tuesday and marine, coastal, and tidal flooding impacts lasting through at least Friday. A flood watch covers the Northeast Florida coast, the I-95 corridor, and the St. Johns and St. Marys river basins, with about 2 inches of rain expected and up to 4 inches in spots. Flagler County faces a coastal flood advisory: 2 to 5 inches of rain are expected through Wednesday, up to 8 inches in isolated areas, with breakers reaching up to 9 feet. "We are asking people to refrain from going to the beach," a National Weather Service meteorologist said, "because the water could reach the dunes."
In flood-prone Fort Lauderdale, the city is defending its stormwater drainage upgrades amid resident worries, Axios reports. The city's aging drainage system has been a chronic pain point every rainy season, and this week's relentless storms have put it back in the spotlight.
AccuWeather meteorologists say tropical moisture interacting with a stalled front will bring repeated rounds of flooding downpours across the Southeast: 1 to 2 inches from Tampa through central Georgia and southern Alabama to the Florida Panhandle from Monday to Wednesday morning, a 2-to-4-inch corridor from Panama City to Jacksonville, and 4 to 8 inches across parts of northern Florida — with an AccuWeather Local StormMax of 14 inches. Fox Weather has issued a Level 2-out-of-4 flood threat stretching from Mobile, Alabama, to the Carolinas. All of Florida is stuck in an "it could pour any day" pattern this week.