DRENCHED! South Florida pounded by first potential tropical storm of 2022 season

South Florida continues to get drenched with pouring rain into Saturday morning from a tropical disturbance that meteorologists are calling both ‘Potential Tropical Cyclone One’ and ‘Potential Tropical Storm Alex, the National Hurricane Center reports.

AccuWeather forecasters believe it will emerge as the first named system in the Atlantic hurricane season, which they predict will be above average for the year.

Tropical storm watches had been posted as early as Thursday for Florida, the Bahamas and Cuba. The disturbance glided across Mexico yesterday, moving northeastward about 125 miles north of Cozumel. On Saturday it crossed the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and the central and southern areas of the of the Florida Peninsula. 

Data from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft report its sustained winds have already reached as high 40 mph with higher gusts. 

Forecasters say Potential Tropical Storm Alex has a strong chance of evolving into an actual tropical storm once it leaves landfall and can coast long the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The National Hurricane Center projected Alex’s path online here.

Authorities are considering the situation on the ground in Miami a dangerous situation as flash flooding has reached near record levels with video of prominent Brickell Avenue submerged underwater, resembling the waterway roadway system of Venice, Italy. Many cars were submerged underwater, a flooding scenario that AccuWeather warned about several days in advance.

Reports indicate that 9.73 inches of rainfall has landed in Miami, almost surpassing the average June rainfall amount of 10.51 inches for the city. The latest three-day rainfall totals 11.61 inches at Biscayne Park, Florida, with 11 inches at Key Largo.

The City of Miami published video of streets flooded with rainwater on its Twitter account, warning that road conditions remain a risk, and that local residents should “stay home” amid the pouring rain. Although the precipitation slowed down as of 8 a.m. ET, flooding has continued throughout the morning.

Some Miamians posted stunning video of the flooding on their social media account. Weather documentarian Jonathan Petramala posted video on Twitter of young people practically swimming back to their cars after a night out. “When clubbing goes bad in downtown Miami,” he wrote. Other video posted from early Saturday showed up to two feet of water surrounding cars.

“Some relief may be in sight later this morning,” reported AccuWeather. “One more round of intense rainfall will move through the Miami area over the next hour or two, and the National Weather Service has continued Flash Flood Warnings until 7 a.m. for Miami and Fort Lauderdale to cover for this batch of rain. To the south of this, however, radar imagery suggests that rain will start to taper off through late morning. While additional rounds of heavier rain may still develop through the day on Saturday, any break will begin to allow floodwaters to recede.”

The meteorological service forecasted that “16 to 20 named storms for the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, of which four to 6 would directly impact the United States,” and that “six to eight hurricanes, and three to five major hurricanes, are also predicted.”

The weather service also sited longtime meteorologist and hurricane expert Dan Kottlowski who predicted that the above-average sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic compounded with a La Niña will most likely lead to a robust hurricane season and continued high activity tropical weather this summer and fall.

Meanwhile, in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Agatha emerged as the most powerful hurricane since records have been kept to come ashore in May. It made landfall in Mexico Monday afternoon. 

The Category 2 hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, but quickly lost power. Oaxaca Gov. Alejandro Murat said Wednesday that Hurricane Agatha left at least 11 dead and that 33 people remain missing. More than 40,000 people in the southern Mexican state have been impacted, authorities said.

AccuWeather continues to provide live updates here.