Happy 4th of July, South Florida!

What a scorcher of a week for our area!  South Florida seeing afternoon high temperatures in the mid to upper 90s each day!  And with temperatures starting off in the 80s this morning, south Florida will quickly warm into the 90s possibly even before noon!

So why have temperatures been so hot lately?  A few elements have contributed to the heat. For one, we have had a high pressure system parked over the Gulf of Mexico that has helped keep a South to Southwest wind in place last few days. Apart from a favorable steering wind, Saharan Dust has also been hovering over Florida through much of this week.  That has helped keep rain mostly out of the forecast, which also helped temperatures reach the 90s each day.  That layer of dust has been slowly thinning out which should help bring some changes to our forecast.

So what can we expect today? Well, pretty much a similar set up is expected today as we have seen in the previous days.  And with a light south to southwest wind once again today, temperatures will quickly warm up through the morning hours, possibly reaching the 90s before noon.  It will be steamy sunshine up until that,…at least through the first half of the day today. And then with the heat and humidity in place not only will temperatures feel like the hundreds as we head into this afternoon but also we should begin to see a few showers and thunderstorms developing first across inland areas then some of those storms could wobble their way into the East coast metro areas.  And if you have any plans for fireworks tonight then you should be in luck. We should be good to go by the time the sun sets.  So if you have any outdoor Fourth of July plans today, be sure to plan them through the first half of the day.  And for the fireworks….the later the better!

Sunday should bring some more changes to South Florida. The high-pressure system that has been parked over the Gulf of Mexico through much of this week will eventually begin to break down. And with a stalled front across the southeastern United States (and a few disturbances riding along it), much of Florida will see showers and thunderstorms return to the forecast….the wettest areas looking like Central and North Florida.  With the heat and the humidity in place and with a favorable steering flow, the day should start off rather quiet and then we an expect to see showers and thunderstorms through the afternoon…..slightly better chance than we have seen the last few days due to moisture creeping back into the forecast. That is not to say that Sunday is going to be a washout in South Florida but just keep in mind that we will see a better chance for showers and thunderstorms as the day progresses.

The Saharan dust that has helped keep rain chances at a minimum through much of this week has begun to thin out but there is still some remnant dust up and down our state. As we had to latter part of the weekend and into next week it looks like another layer of the hair and dust tries to make its way toward South Florida. Only this time the Florida Keys will see the brunt of it. And across the Atlantic we continue to see plenty of Saharan dust moving across the top of waters coming off of the coast of Africa that should also help keep things quiet across the Central Atlantic.  But not ALL of the Tropics remain quiet right now.  Remember that stalled out front I mentioned across the Southeastern U.S.?  Well a low pressure system that developed along the front has now moved offshore and the National Hurricane Center is monitoring this system for potential tropical development.  Good news is that it is moving AWAY from the United States.  Interests in Bermuda should monitor the progress of this system as it continues to move ENE.

Looking ahead the wettest two days of the week look to be Sunday and Monday. And the best part is they won’t be a washout….especially Sunday.  However they should bring some relief from this scorching heat that we have been seeing the last few days. Once we get through those days will begin to see temperature is climbing once again back into the mid 90s because you know how that goes in South Florida, the sunnier it is the warmer it gets. But if your lawn needs some watering as most of ours do then you are in luck. We should see some showers back into the forecast by the end of the upcoming work week.

Have a great 4th of July!

Erika Delgado

Meteorologist

WSVN Channel 7 News

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