textproduct: Miami - South Florida

KEY MESSAGES

Updated at 138 AM EDT Sun Apr 19 2026 - Warm and dry conditions will persist across the region through today, though isolated showers will be likely along the Gulf Breeze this afternoon.

- A cold front will be entering the region Sunday, bringing increased rain chances and hazardous marine conditions.

- Patchy fog could develop across inland South Florida early this morning, resulting in lower visibilities.

SHORT TERM

(Rest of today through Sunday) Issued at 105 PM EDT Sat Apr 18 2026

Expecting one more day of ridge/high pressure dominance across SoFlo today, but with a trend of gradually increasing moisture. Guidance show a strong U/L trough/low complex strengthening over the E Seaboard, with an associated frontal boundary approaching Florida on Sunday. This will keep modifying the mid level air mass, with 00Z MFL sounding PWATs already showing values above 1 inch.

In the meantime, the FL peninsula will remain under the influence of the high pressure, with the ridge axis close enough to keep winds in the light to moderate range from the E this afternoon. This will also allow for a localized sea breeze over the Gulf coast, which may provide enough lifting for a few showers over SW Florida today. POPs/Wx will also be increased a little for Sunday afternoon as the moisture profile increases, but keeping chances in the 15-25% range. High-res guidance also suggest possible periods of fog tonight into Sunday morning (around 20% chance) for much of interior SoFlo, which is now incorporated into this update.

Max temps on Sunday should hit the mid-upper 80s near the coasts, and around 90 elsewhere. Nighttime lows should remain in the mid 60s inland, and upper 60s to low 70s near the coasts.

LONG TERM

(Sunday night through Friday) Issued at 305 AM EDT Sat Apr 18 2026

Most model guidance shows the aforementioned cold front dropping along the peninsula between Monday-Tuesday and stalling out over the Florida Straits during the latter half of the week. The frontal passage will bring increasing shower and thunderstorm activity to the area starting Monday morning and continuing overnight into early Tuesday morning. Guidance suggests rainfall accumulations up to an inch could be possible with this frontal passage. Conditions could cool back down to more seasonable temperatures once the front moves across the area, with highs next week in the upper 70s and lower 80s. Lows each midnight could dip into the 50s across the interior, and down to the 60s along the coasts.

Uncertainty in the forecast increases towards the middle and back half of the week. Most of the guidance shows an upper level shortwave developing on the back of the aforementioned trough, right over the southeastern US. This shortwave would then drop across the Gulf waters and reach the FL peninsula sometime Thursday into Friday. With the stalled frontal boundary over the FL Straits and this additional forcing mechanism in place, chances for showers and thunderstorms could increase once again. However, some of the GEFS ensemble members also show a surface low developing over the Gulf in tandem with the shortwave, moving east or south and approaching the peninsula. Previous model runs had the low moving across South FL on Thursday, but tonight's runs show it moving southward towards Cuba. This solution could bring higher rainfall totals across the region during the period (up to 3-4 inches of rain over a 48 hour period). While still generally unlikely (and supported only by a minority of the model ensembles), this solution, and the entirety of the forecast for the end of the week, will need to be monitored for any changes or increasing confidence. The NBM mostly supports a drier solution for the area. So for now, we're keeping low-end PoPs and QPFs in the forecast for the latter half of the week.

AVIATION

(06Z TAFS) Issued at 138 AM EDT Sun Apr 19 2026

VFR conditions should prevail through the period. A cold front will begin to approach the area, while a surface high retreats. As a result, winds will lighten early this morning before sea breezes develop on each coast, with the Gulf breeze the stronger of the two. Slight chance for isolated showers and a few thunderstorms across the East Coast this afternoon where the breezes will meet. Impacts to the sites could be possible but confidence remains low at this time.

MARINE

Issued at 305 AM EDT Sat Apr 18 2026

A moderate breeze will prevail across the local Atlantic waters as high pressure remains in place over the region. Lighter winds will set up over the Gulf waters. Seas will remain in the 2-4 ft across the Atlantic and remain 2 feet or less in the Gulf. Another period of breezy, hazardous conditions could approach early next week with the passage of a cold front, with winds 20-25 kts and gusts up to 30 kts across the Atlantic and Gulf waters, and seas building up to 12 ft along the Gulf stream.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Miami 87 72 84 69 / 20 10 50 30 West Kendall 89 68 86 67 / 20 10 50 30 Opa-Locka 88 72 85 69 / 20 10 60 30 Homestead 87 70 84 69 / 20 10 40 30 Fort Lauderdale 85 73 82 69 / 20 20 60 30 N Ft Lauderdale 85 72 81 69 / 20 20 60 30 Pembroke Pines 90 73 85 70 / 20 10 60 30 West Palm Beach 87 72 80 68 / 20 20 60 20 Boca Raton 85 72 81 69 / 20 20 60 20 Naples 85 68 87 65 / 10 0 30 10

MFL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

FL...None. AM...None. GM...None.