Through the rest of the week, South Florida is being scorched by an early-season heat wave that brings dangerously high temperatures and humidity.
Expected highs will reach the 90s, and through Sunday, there will still be a chance for record-high temperatures.
Dew points, which measure the amount of moisture in the atmosphere, are expected to stay in the high 60s to upper 70s across the state through Friday.
“It’s the combo of high heat and humidity that becomes so dangerous,” Meteorologist Britta Merwin said. “How do we cool down? We step outside, we sweat, that sweat evaporates, and your internal body temperature will drop in response to that.”
The heat index in Miami can reach 107 degrees. Because of this, May is seeing its first Heat Advisory from the National Weather Service in Miami in at least 15 years.
There won’t be much of a break in the 80s during the night. Early next week is predicted to see temperatures return to more usual Florida levels.
Miami has already broken six daily records for 2024 as of Thursday, including one established last week.
This week has seen a number of records in South Florida tied or surpassed. For instance, Key West was baking on Wednesday.
With a scorching 115 degrees, the city tied its highest heat index ever. On Wednesday, the actual temperature hit 92 degrees, shattering the previous record of 90 degrees set in 1884.
Though the southernmost point of the United States is Key West, other records were broken to the north.
On Wednesday, Miami recorded its second-highest May temperature ever, at 96 degrees. 98 degrees was the highest recorded in May 2017.
Furthermore, you should reconsider your assumption that the heat would lessen at night.
Related:
- Miami, Fort Lauderdale Heat Index Rising: Relief Unlikely as Hotter Days Approach
- Heat Emergency in Florida: Heat Index Hits 100 Degrees and Climbing
Tuesday’s low temperature of 85 degrees tied the record for warmest one ever recorded in Fort Lauderdale. That matched the previous record that was set on July 23, 1945.
Tuesday morning’s low in Key West, too, was just 82 degrees, shattering the daily record-warm low of 81 degrees set in 1995.
Additionally, West Palm Beach broke its previous record of 79 degrees established in 1938 with a record-warm low temperature of 81 degrees on Wednesday morning.
Florida’s early heat wave requires parents and guardians to be extra careful when checking their cars for kids and pets. It can be fatal to leave a child or cat in a car, even on an 80 degree day.
When the outside temperature rises beyond 80 degrees, your car turns into a convection oven. Children can suffer potentially fatal heat stroke in a car when the temperature rises by almost thirty degrees in only twenty minutes.
