November 22, 2024

Blustery winds, rainy conditions to last through Saturday, weather improves Sunday

Good Saturday #GoodSaturday

MIAMI – It’s not going to be a beach weekend. 

On Friday, we’ll see gusty winds with on-and-off showers throughout the day. On Saturday, expect gusty downpours with storms. By Sunday, coastal Broward could see four to six inches of rain. 

There is a Wind Advisory through 7 a.m. Sunday for Miami-Dade and Broward. 

Windy, rainy conditions expected to last through Saturday 01:57

The National Weather Service has issued a Gale Warning through Sunday due to winds gusting up to 49 mph and sea swells in some places near Miami will be up to 19 feet.

“In those kinds of conditions, there’s no place for recreational boaters to be, there’s not place for any kind of recreational boats,” said US Coast Guard District 7 Recreational Boating Safety Specialist Scott Szczepaniak.

He noted that there will be some who will not heed the warning.

“Thrill seekers in this kind of weather always, always get in trouble, that they don’t think that they’re going to get in trouble, their intentions is just to have a good time,” he said.

When that happens, rescue crews have to respond and that puts their lives in danger. 

Windy, rainy conditions expected through Saturday 02:49

CBS News Miami’s Peter D’Oench spot to the operations supervisor for Miami Beach Ocean Rescue. He told us debris has been flying around, but that he has not seen serious problems so far. 

“People have been heeding the warnings to stay out of the water. The surf here on South Beach is powerful and there is a high risk of rip currents.”

Some tourists tell us while they may be tempted to go in to these waters, they are not taking any chances during this wind advisory.

Paul Martin, visiting from England said, “We are going to keep away from the ocean. It is very dangerous.”

Due to the gusty wind-fueled surf, Dania Beach has temporarily closed the pier and beach until further notice. There’s really no beach to go to at this point.  

The Seminole Hard Rock Winterfest Boat Parade, scheduled for Saturday, December 16th, has been canceled due to high winds that are predicted. It’s the first time in the 52-year history that it has been canceled for weather related reasons. There was the year it did not occur because of Covid but this is the first weather related closure or cancellation. However, the grand Marshall reception on Friday night will still occur.

The Greater Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce announced that its holiday boat parade, scheduled for Friday, December 15th, has been postponed until Thursday, December 21st at 7:00 p.m.

In Deerfield Beach, the Merry Little Holiday Fest scheduled for Friday, December 15th, at Sullivan Park has been canceled due to the threat of inclement weather.

Also in Deerfield Beach, Operation Santa, scheduled for Saturday, December 16th, has been postponed until Saturday, December 23rd.

Those are not the only closures and cancellations. 

“So in Hollywood, we have a monthly Artwalk in downtown that, unfortunately, has been canceled,” said Hollywood spokesperson Oann Hussey. “Our Friday night movie at Arts Park is also canceled.”

It’s not just the events that people need to be aware of.

“It’s my understanding that the wind event may switch over to a rain event and in that case, the low-lying areas of Hollywood are prone to flooding,” Hussey. 

On the city’s famed Broadwalk, few people ventured out due to the strong winds blowing ashore. 

“The weather is so weird. It’s super strong, a lot of wind,” said Monica Medina.

“This is a rare occasion, especially for December. Tropical season is only to November 1st,” said Abel Marquez. 

All that wind had city work crews working overtime, for days, laying Tiger Dam, a temporary water fill barrier, to keep ocean water and sand from flooding onto the Broadwalk. 

This is the first time the city has used this barrier system and it’s working.

Windy, rainy conditions expected through Saturday 02:45

Waves crashed ashore in Dania Beach with such force, it’s pulling much of the sand out to sea. It even forced crews to remove a lifeguard stand.

Ira Paskow, who lives on a boat said, “The beach is gone, there is no beach.”

“I haven’t seen it this bad, even when we’ve had tropical storms. It’s been constant for days now.”

Ana Garcia, Dania Beach City Manager said, “We’ve closed the beach because of the heavy gusts.”

She said they decided to close the public beach for safety reasons and concerns that the parking lot could flood.

“Right now as you can see, those palm fronds are missiles, people don’t realize, they think, ‘we can go, we can surf, we can check out the water,’ but at any given time someone can get hurt of a car can get stuck.”

This comes after a recent beach renourishment program.

“The fact that we’re losing our beach because of the weather, mother nature is very concerning to us.”

In Fort Lauderdale, despite the winds, the beach is open, not very crowded, but open.

Alese Fountaine, who’s in town visiting said, “We’re just here hanging out. It’s super windy. We’re still at the beach, just not getting a tan.”

“It’s still warming than in New York where we’re from so.”

Hollywood Emergency Manager Jaime Hernandez they the city is learning from this.

“Going forward, the biggest takeaway from us is that we, when we have a hurricane or tropical storm coming in off the Atlantic, we’re going to deploy Tiger Dams at every single opening on the knee wall, on the Broadwalk ahead of the storm,” said Hernandez.

On South Beach, the surf is choppy and there’s a risk of rip currents and coastal flooding. And with the wind advisory, the Miami-Dade Department of Emergency Management says preparing for flooding is important no matter where you live.

Erika Benitez with the Miami-Dade Department of Emergency Management said, “This is especially true if you live in low-lying areas on near water. If you see standing water whether you are walking or driving it is never a good idea to walk or drive in flooded areas as water may be deeper than it appears hiding all kinds of hazards like debris, sharp objects or even downed power lines.”

She urges everyone to, “Keep children and pets away from flooded areas and make sure you never use water that is contaminated.” 

Despite the drizzly weather, tourists on South Beach were not complaining.

“It’s better than what it is back in Ohio. They are waiting on snow. I will take this,” said Shay Wright who is visiting from Columbus.

The South Florida Water Management District has been lowering canal levels since Monday.

Randy Smith, with the South Florida Water Management District, said,  “What we are doing is operating the system the way it was designed. We need to get the canals as low as we can so they have the capacity to extra stormwater runoff when the rains hit hard and to do that we need to open the gates and have the water rush into the Atlantic Ocean. The challenge for us is going to be the winds and the high tides. The tides are higher than normal.” 

Smith said the District is monitoring their two thousand miles of canals 24 hours a day.

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Jacqueline Quynh

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