The SouthFloridaReporter World HQ is without power today, thanks to Hurricane Matthew. FPL crews are working to restore power. Local police are busy directing traffic through the intersections.
In the meantime, we have hit the road in search of a place to establish a temporary HQ. We’re on the Turnpike at the Port St. Lucie rest stop. We’ll just post this weather update and then we’ll head back to see how FPL is doing.
On another note, we have been updating our website. If you go there now, SouthFloridaReporter, you will find several new sections. These sections will NOT be in the morning emails.
First, we have made arrangements with the Weather Channel to post many of their videos. Currently, they are all about Hurricane Matthew. This playlist updates several times a day.
Next, further down the page, you will find a section presently named Videos. There you’ll find a playlist of videos covering news, entertainment, sports and more. These videos change every 20 minutes or so.
Finally, you’ll find the BizWireTV reports. This updates several times a week.
Let me know if there is something else you think we should be carrying.
Todays Forecast from OUR OWN METEOROLOGIST, Donna Thomas:
South Florida’s weather will improve on Friday as Hurricane Matthew moves well to our north. At 5 am Friday, Matthew was located near 28.2 North, 80.0 West, or about 90 southeast of Daytona Beach. Matthew’s eyewall is forecast to touch the Cape Canaveral area Friday morning. Maximum sustained winds were 120 miles per hour. Matthew was moving north-northwest at 13 miles per hour and is forecast to move along the southeast U.S. coast this weekend.
A tropical storm warning is now in effect for Palm Beach County. Tropical storm warnings and watches for the rest of our area have been lifted.
Here in South Florida, we’ll see a breezy Friday with clouds, a few passing showers, and periods of sun. Highs will be in the upper 80s. Drier air will settle in over the weekend, so look for just the chance of a shower or quick storm on Saturday and Sunday. Highs will be in the low 90s in Miami-Dade and Broward and in the upper 80s in the Keys and along the Gulf coast.
Elsewhere in the tropics, we do have Hurricane Nicole, and it is not a threat. At 5 am Friday, it was located near 27.3 North, 65.2 West, and was crawling south at 1 mile per hour. Maximum sustained winds were 100 miles per hour.
Finally, a word on Matthew’s longer range future. While computer models and the 4-5 day forecast “cone” show Matthew moving back toward Florida, we’ll watch but not worry. Matthew will be deflected from moving northeast out to sea by that ridge we’ll been watching since last week. But Matthew will weaken dramatically. Should it return to the Bahamas or Florida, it is forecast to be a very weak tropical storm or depression — and with a timeframe of late next week for all that to happen, Matthew could even degenerate into a remnant by then.
