Afternoon Showers Here; Florence Batters Carolina Coast

South Florida will see afternoon showers and late summer heat on Friday as Hurricane Florence batters the Carolinas.

Our Friday will start with sun and clouds, with showers and a few storms developing in the afternoon, especially in the eastern metro areas.  A high risk of dangerous rip currents is in place at the beaches of Palm Beach County, and Miami-Dade and Broward beaches will see an increasing risk on Friday, becoming a high risk over the weekend.  Friday’s highs will be in the low 90s.

Saturday will bring sun, clouds, and periods of passing showers and storms, with eastern parts of South Florida seeing the most activity.  Saturday’s highs will be in the low 90s.

Sunday will feature sun, clouds, and some afternoon showers and storms, especially well inland.  Sunday’s highs will be in the low 90s.

We’ll return to a more typical pattern on Monday, with a few early east coast showers, sun and clouds much of the day, and afternoon showers and storms, especially along the Gulf coast and in the interior.  Monday’s highs will be near 90 degrees.

Tuesday’s forecast includes sun, clouds, and afternoon showers and storms.  Highs on Tuesday will be near 90 degrees.

Hurricane Florence is bringing life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds, and flooding rains to North and South Carolina as its eye comes ashore.  At 6 am Friday, Florence was centered near 34.2 North, 77.6 West, close to Wilmington, North Carolina.  Florence was moving west-northwest at 6 miles per hour and had maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour.  Water will be the killer — with storm surge of up to 11 feet and as much as 40 inches of rain.

Isaac is now a tropical depression.  At 5 am Friday, Isaac was located near 15.0 North, 65.5 West, and was moving west at 15 miles per hour.  Maximum sustained winds were down to 35 miles per hour, and Isaac is expected to degenerate into an open wave over the weekend.

Elsewhere, Tropical Storm Helene is threatening the Azores.  At 5 am Friday, Helene was located near 30.6 North, 36.0 West, and was zipping north at 23 iles per hour.  Maximum sustained winds were 65 miles per hour.  The Azores can expect heavy rain and gusty winds from Helene this weekend.

Also in the central Atlantic, Tropical Storm Joyce is moving south-southwest at 8 miles per hour early Friday but is expected turn to the east later today.  At 5 am Friday, it was located near 32.1 North, 44.9 West, and had maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour.  Finally, the low in the western Gulf of Mexico has a low chance of developing into a depression, but it will bring heavy rains and gusty winds to portions of Texas and Mexico on Friday and Saturday.