A hot, summer-like week is ahead for South Florida as we notice a bit of a pattern change. The days of a persistent, onshore breeze will soon end and will be replaced with more of a land breeze.
That switch will lead to changes in both our temperatures and rain chances. Given the wind originating from the land much of this week, that will allow for high temperatures to generally reach the mid 90s. Wednesday looks especially hot with a forecast high of 95F in Miami.
At least for today into Monday, the onshore breeze will remain, leading to the chance for a spotty morning shower and then isolated inland thunderstorms for the afternoon. Otherwise, expect lots of dry time to remain with generally sunny skies these next couple days.
Then for Tuesday and beyond, the steering flow will switch out of the northwest to the west. This along with moisture in place will focus afternoon thunderstorms across the South Florida metro. It’s not going to be a very wet week but there will be a decent opportunity each day to see a shower or storm at some point in the day due to this setup.
Believe it or not, distant Hurricane Erin will have an influence on this pattern change for us as it helps to usher in some moisture and lead to a switch in wind direction. Thankfully, though, South Florida will not be directly impacted by Erin!
We will also notice some elevated surf levels midweek but the Bahamas should keep the very high surf away from our area.
Tropical update
Hurricane Erin remains a powerful, Category 3 system north of Puerto Rico this morning, bringing rain and gusty winds to the region.
Thankfully, the worst of this storm will remain north of Puerto Rico and the other Caribbean islands as Erin tracks to the west and eventually north over the southwest Atlantic Ocean in the coming days. In the long range, Erin is most likely to track between Bermuda and the US East Coast midweek.
With that said, some wind impacts will be possible down the line with Tropical Storm Warnings and Watches in effect for Turks and Caicos and the Southeast Bahamas, respectively.
Elsewhere in the tropics, there are two areas to watch for potential tropical development. That includes a future area of low pressure that could form over the central Atlantic Ocean later this week as it travels west. It currently has a low, 20% chance.
