Home Weather Summertime Heat and Some Storms; Closely Watching the Tropics

Summertime Heat and Some Storms; Closely Watching the Tropics

summertime

image4South Florida will see typical summertime heat and a few afternoon storms this weekend. Saturday features a stray early shower along the east coast, followed by hot sun, highs in the low 90s, and a few isolated storms developing in the western suburbs of Miami-Dade and Broward and in the interior regions of South Florida. Where storms do develop, heavy downpours are possible because the storms will move slowly.

We’ll see the same pattern on Sunday, with highs in the low 90s and a few afternoon storms forming away from the immediate coasts and in the interior.

On Monday, look for an early shower along the east coast, highs in the low 90s, and a few afternoon storms forming along the sea breezes of both coasts, so storms developing in the metro areas of Miami-Dade and Broward and in the Naples area will push into the interior in the late afternoon and early evening.

We’ll see a similar set-up on Tuesday, with highs in the low 90s and the sea breezes bringing a few afternoon storms to the metro areas on both sides of the peninsula.

The Atlantic sea breeze will dominate on Wednesday, so afternoon storms will be most likely in the western suburbs of Miami-Dade and Broward, in the interior, and in the Naples area. Highs on Wednesday will be in the low 90s.

084259W5_NL_smThe tropics are active, as is typical in mid August. Tropical Storm Fiona is expected to weaken into a depression today and become a remnant low on Sunday or Monday. As of 5 am Saturday, Fiona was located near 19.2 North, 46.7 West, and was moving west-northwest at 13 miles per hour. Maximum sustained winds were 40 miles per hour.

summertimeOf more concern to South Florida is the wave about 700 miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. It will be moving into an area favorable for development and could be a depression by the time it reaches the Lesser Antilles on Wednesday.

We’ll watch this one closely.

Elsewhere, a wave emerging from the African coast has a low chance of developing over the next few days.

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.