MIAMI – Expect another breezy day on Monday with quick, passing showers coming in off the Atlantic. Afternoon highs will warm into the middle 80s under a partly sunny sky.
On Tuesday, all eyes will shift to soon-to-be Rafael in the Caribbean, which will bring some fringe impacts to South Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday. An area of low pressure located in the Caribbean is forecast to become Tropical Storm Rafael on Monday, making a close pass to Jamaica on Monday night and then strengthening into a Category 1 hurricane before moving over western Cuba on Tuesday night into Wednesday.
From there it will move on into the Gulf of Mexico as what is forecast to be a Category 1 hurricane. The latest forecast cone from the National Hurricane Center has it making landfall as a strong tropical storm anywhere from the coast of Louisiana to the far western Florida Panhandle sometime Friday night into Saturday.
While there is a high amount of uncertainty regarding the track once it reaches the Gulf of Mexico, we are certain that the worst of the weather with future Rafael will stay well to the west of South Florida. We will still feel some impacts however, which include squally bands of rain and storms, gusty winds, and the potential for some minor coastal flooding across the lower Keys Tuesday into Wednesday.