South Florida will endure one last afternoon of extreme heat Friday before thunderstorms take its place, forecasters say, bringing strong winds, hail, and torrential rain.
Friday is expected to be the “peak period” of this week’s heat wave, said Ana Torres-Vazquez, a meteorologist for National Weather Service Miami.
Afternoon highs will reach the mid-90s, and heat indices, or “feels-like” temperatures, will reach between 105 and 109 degrees. Some interior areas could reach up to 110 degrees.
The heat advisory issued by the National Weather Service Miami for the past three days ends at 7 p.m. Friday.
Meanwhile, strong thunderstorms are increasingly likely to arrive Friday afternoon, forecasters said in a late morning update, particularly in northern areas like Palm Beach County, with “damaging winds, frequent lightning, small hail (up to the size of a quarter) and torrential rainfall conducive to localized flooding.”
An upper-level trough currently expanding over the southern peninsula is strengthening those storms, Torres-Vazquez said.
“The weather pattern has evolved a little bit over the past morning or so, making for conditions that are more conducive for strong thunderstorms to develop,” Torres-Vazquez said.
The chances of storms increase on Saturday for Broward and Palm Beach counties, including the risk of strong winds and hail. Most of South Florida will see a 70% to 80% chance of precipitation Saturday afternoon, with the highest chances along coastal areas. Sunday will see similar chances, but the storms will likely be weaker as the upper level trough won’t be as prevalent, Torres-Vazquez said.
Though the heat advisory will end Friday, temperatures will remain high on Saturday and into next week, with afternoon highs in the low 90s. But the storms and cloud cover will likely prevent the heat from reaching the thresholds required for an advisory, Torres-Vazquez said, which, for most of South Florida, is having feels-like temperatures that stay at or above 108 degrees for two hours.
South Florida will see a “very gradual, very slow decrease in temperatures over several days,” Torres-Vazquez said, “so we’ll continue to be hot, but not reach the criteria for heat advisory.”
