Romantic beach trip – Key West Beach – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by Stockdonkey
It’s predicted that a spring heat wave, which began scorching certain areas of South Florida on Wednesday, will linger for the remainder of the week, bringing potentially fatal temperatures far over 100 degrees.
South of the Interstate 4 corridor and throughout South Florida, dangerous heat will result from daytime heating with temperatures exceeding 90 degrees and high dew points.
Given that these temperatures are more akin to August than mid-May, millions of people in South Florida are especially vulnerable to the intense heat brought on by this early-season heat wave.
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 during the workweek.
High heat and humidity together make for extremely dangerous conditions, according to Britta Merwin, a FOX Weather meteorologist. “How can we relax? When we step outside, we perspire, that perspiration evaporates, and your body temperature drops as a result.”
The extremely soupy air that is predicted prevents your body from cooling down in this way. The only way to stay cool is to stay inside and enjoy the air conditioning. If you must be outside, make sure you are well-hydrated and in the shade.
Miami has already broken six daily records for 2024 as of Thursday, including one established last week. “The 305” might add a few more records to the list before the end of the week.
On Thursday, a high temperature of 94 degrees is predicted for Miami. It will feel like 102 in Miami and 99 in Key West with high dew points above 75 degrees.
With a high of around 90 degrees predicted for West Palm Beach on Thursday, it will feel like 100 degrees.
This week is seeing a heat wave across the remainder of Florida.
On Thursday, Tallahassee is predicted to peak 93 degrees, while Jacksonville is predicted to top 94.
Orlando’s heat index is predicted to climb throughout the week and to approach 100 degrees on Saturday.
Forecasts indicate that Saturday will be the warmest day in Tampa in terms of the heat index, with a feels-like temperature of over 100.
Fort Myers will remain stable during the week, with weekend highs that feel closer to 100 degrees.
Evenings won’t bring much reprieve from the heat because they’ll still be in the 80s.
This week has seen record after record set or broken throughout South Florida, and it appears that this trend will continue.
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.
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.
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Melissa’s career in writing started more than 20 years ago. Today, she lives in South Florida with her husband and two boys.
