A late season cold front pushing into Florida will bring slightly cooler temperatures and days of rainfall this week with concerns increasing for urban flooding, gusty winds and dangerous beach conditions.
The front, which is forecast to settle over Central or South Florida, on Monday, April 6, could mean isolated rainfall amounts topping 5 inches through Friday along the east coast of the state with areas of the Space Coast seeing the heaviest showers.
The Weather Prediction Center has issued a marginal threat for excessive rain into Thursday meaning there is at least a 5% chance of rainfall amounts causing some flooding.
AccuWeather senior meteorologist Brett Anderson said in a morning forecast that the rain is positive for drought-stricken areas of the state. Despite some soggy weather this spring, 79% of the state either in extreme or exceptional drought, which are the two highest levels of drought on a four-tier scale.
“Our team of forecasters expects 1-2 inches of rain along the Florida Atlantic coast and across much of South Florida from Monday to Thursday, which will be good news for areas under severe to extreme drought,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson. “However, some locations could see repeating thunderstorms deliver 4-6 inches of rain, which may lead to flooding in poor drainage areas.”
The rain may also help with the Hilux fire, which as of late Sunday, April 5, had burned more than 500 acres of land about 25 miles east of Naples and was 0% contained.
Naples set a record rainfall Sunday, breaking the 1993 mark
Naples set a rainfall record on Sunday with 1.34 inches of rain recorded, breaking the previous record of .91 inches set in 1993.
“The precipitation and limited activity today allowed ground resources the opportunity to reinforce containment lines on the northwest portion of the fire,” U.S. Wildland Fire Services said in a statement. “The conditions also allowed firefighters the opportunity to scout additional areas for containment and develop a plan of action for the coming days.”
Tim Sedlock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne, said the weather this week is tricky to forecast with several forces acting together. Those include the polar jet stream, which is dipping farther south than normal for this time of year, and a more northerly-reaching subtropical jet stream.
“Those higher winds aloft at 20,000 feet can aid in storminess at the surface,” Sedlock said. “High end rainfall at the coast could be 5 to 7 inches, possibly more, through Thursday.”
What days this week will see the biggest rainfall in Florida?
NWS meteorologists in Miami said Tuesday and Wednesday will be the highest chances for rain in South Florida, and it will come with stronger thunderstorms over the Everglades as the Gulf and Atlantic sea breezes push inland.
Areas of southern Dade County could see isolated rain amounts of up to 5 inches.
Beach threats include a high risk of rip currents along the east coast beginning Tuesday with Melbourne-based NWS meteorologists forecasting wind gusts of between 35 and 45 mph on Wednesday. Breaking waves of between 8 and 12 feet are forecast at Central Florida’s Atlantic beaches.
“Expect minor to moderate beach erosion around high tide and numerous life-threatening rip currents. Entering the ocean is strongly discouraged this week,” Melbourne meteorologists wrote in the Monday morning forecast.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for the USA TODAY NETWORK FLORIDA. She covers weather, the environment and critters as the Embracing Florida reporter. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at palmbeachpost.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Late season Florida cold front will bring days of rain, flooding risk
Reporting by Kimberly Miller, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
