By Donna Thomas, SouthFloridaReporter.com Meteorologist, Oct. 1, 2015 – South Florida will deal with tidal flooding again on Thursday, while the Bahamas are bracing for Hurricane Joaquin. Here in South Florida, the coastal flooding advisory will extend until 2 am on Friday, as high tides at 11:30 am Thursday and near midnight will bring more seawater into low-lying areas, amplified by swells from Joaquin well to our east. Thursday will also feature sun, clouds, just a few stray showers, and highs in the low 90s. Friday will be breezy with a few showers and a building risk of rip currents and swells as Joaquin moves slowly in the Bahamas. Friday’s highs will be near 90 degrees. Our weekend features much lower humidity, plenty of sun, and highs in the mid to upper 80s, all associated with the feature that will push Joaquin to the north and toward the U.S. east coast. Our more seasonable weather continues into the workweek, with mostly dry conditions and highs in the upper 80s.
A strengthening Hurricane Joaquin is taking aim on the central Bahamas and will bring storm surge, flooding rains, and damaging winds. At 5 am Friday, Joaquin was located near 23.4 North, 73.7 West, and was moving west-southwest at 5 miles per hour. Maximum sustained winds were 120 miles per hour, and Joaquin is forecast to reach category 4 strength. Hurricane warnings are up for the central and northwestern Bahamas, and tropical storm warnings are in effect for Nassau, the southeastern Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos. Joaquin will move slowly on Thursday before making a northward turn, but computer models are not in agreement in its track beyond Saturday, with potential impacts possible from North Carolina northward to New England. Watches and warnings for portions of the U.S. east coat are possible as early as Thursday evening. We’ll be watching Joaquin closely.
Elsewhere in the tropics, an area of disturbed weather in the central Atlantic about 600 miles southeast of Bermuda has a high chance of developing into a depression over the next 5 days as it moves northward.
