It sure has been a very steamy week across South Florida courtesy of mostly dry conditions and Saharan dust overhead. That changes this Thursday, however, with some heat relief in the forecast.
High temperatures are forecast to only reach the upper 80s across many areas of South Florida this afternoon courtesy of scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms forecast. We’re not expecting a washout today but it will be more on the damp and soggy side, especially during the second half of the day this Thursday.
Despite the mentioned Saharan dust still overhead, there is also an upper level low lurking just offshore to our east over the Atlantic Ocean, stirring in more moisture and added an extra boost for rain and storms to form across the area.
This upper low and dust both linger into Friday, keeping rain chances elevated and skies mostly cloudy and hazy. Scattered storms will remain possible, especially during the morning and midday hours before an onshore wind should push more of the activity to our west.
By the weekend, we finally see a pattern change to our weather. The dust departs to the Gulf of Mexico and a more dominant onshore wind returns with that wind direction generally directed out from the east/southeast.
This will make for a more typical summertime weather pattern this weekend and into early next week with the chance for a few morning showers followed by afternoon storms primarily across inland locations.
There is also the potential for additional Saharan dust to move in by Sunday or Monday, which could help fuel low rain chances and once again lead to hazy skies.
In the tropics, there is a broad area of low pressure meandering off the Southeast U.S. coast that has a low, 10% chance of developing. It is not a concern to South Florida and will move onshore by this weekend.
