Home News Showers Early, Storms Later

Showers Early, Storms Later

By Donna Thomas, SouthFloridaReporter.com Meteorologist, Sept 6, 2015 – South Florida’s wet Labor Day weekend continues with some early showers and afternoon and evening storms on Sunday. Storm coverage should be more limited than it was on Saturday, but some areas will see heavy downpours, gusty winds, and possibly small hail. Sunday’s highs will be in the low 90s. Some showers will linger overnight into early Monday morning, but the highest rain chances will again be in the afternoon, with some locations getting heavy downpours. Highs will be in the low 90s on Labor Day, and that trend will continue during the workweek. Our pattern changes on Tuesday, and we’ll see a few passing morning showers with most of the afternoon storms remaining well inland — a trend that will last into Friday.

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In the tropics, the strong wave in the eastern Atlantic has strengthened into Tropical Storm Grace. At 5 am Sunday, Grace was located near 12.4 North, 28.5 West, and was moving west at 13 miles per hour. It had maximum sustained winds estimated at 45 miles per hour, but satellite images indicate the storm is well organized and could be a bit stronger. Grace is expected to strengthen through Monday but will then encounter strong wind shear as it slowly approaches the Lesser Antilles late in the week. And Fred is now a tropical depression and moving northward in the central Atlantic, where it will eventually run into colder waters and stronger wind shear.

Donna Thomas has studied hurricanes for two decades. She holds a PhD in history when her experience with Hurricane Andrew ultimately led her to earn a degree in broadcast meteorology from Mississippi State University. Donna spent 15 years at WFOR-TV (CBS4 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale), where she worked as a weather producer with hurricane experts Bryan Norcross and David Bernard. She also produced hurricane specials and weather-related features and news coverage, as well as serving as pool TV producer at the National Hurricane Center during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Donna also served as a researcher on NOAA's Atlantic Hurricane Database Reanalysis Project. Donna specializes in Florida's hurricane history.