Currently in Miami — July 13, 2023: Heat Advisories continue

The weather, currently.

A Heat Advisory remains in place for South Florida, with feels-like readings peaking at record levels near 110 °F in the midday and afternoon. Relief to the oppressive heat can only come from rain, and the chance for showers will be increasing as we get closer to the weekend. The Saharan Air Layer that has kept rain at bay the last few days is thinning and moving out, allowing a deeper column of moist air in the lower and mid atmosphere to replace it. Rain showers and thunderstorms will return, being strongest and most numerous over areas well removed from the immediate coast of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area.

El tiempo, actualmente.

Se mantiene una Advertencia de Calor para el sur de la Florida, con la sensación térmica alcanzando niveles récord de cerca de 110 °F al mediodía y por la tarde. El alivio del sofocante calor sólo puede provenir de la lluvia, y la posibilidad de precipitaciones aumentará a medida que nos acerquemos al fin de semana. La capa de aire sahariano que ha mantenido a raya la lluvia en los últimos días se está alejando, permitiendo que una columna más profunda de aire húmedo en las partes bajas y medias de la atmósfera la reemplace. Regresarán las lluvias y las tormentas eléctricas, siendo más intensas y numerosas en áreas alejadas de la costa inmediata del área de Miami-Fort Lauderdale.

—John Morales

What you can do, currently.

The climate emergency doesn’t take the summer off. In fact — as we’ve been reporting — we’re heading into an El Niño that could challenge historical records and is already supercharging weather and climate impacts around the world.

When people understand the weather they are experiencing is caused by climate change it creates a more compelling call to action to do something about it.

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What you need to know, currently.

Water temperatures in Florida have gone off the charts, the latest sign that climate change is accelerating to new heights in 2023.

A buoy off of Murray Key near Everglades National Park soared to 96.8°F (36.0°C) on Monday, 10 degrees F higher than the average summer peak, and just shy of the 99.7°F (37.6°C) global ocean temperature record set in Kuwait in 2020.

That warm water is making life miserable on land, too. A running log of heat index values in Miami have reached unprecedented heights in recent weeks due in part to the proximity to the warm water. As of Wednesday, Miami’s heat index has reached at least 100°F (37.8°C) for 32 consecutive days.

Marine scientists have expressed alarm about the consequences of the extremely warm water on Florida’s fragile coral reefs, calling the current heat wave “horrific”.

“I’m most worried that this level of heat will persist — that the corals that are experiencing these warm waters will continue to experience these warm waters for the coming weeks,” Ian Enochs, who leads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Experimental Reef Lab at the University of Miami, told the Tampa Bay Times.

All this heat also bodes ominously for hurricane season, especially with the news this week that Farmers Insurance will move to cancel homeowners policies for more than 100,000 homes across the state due to the rising risks of hurricane season, sea level rise, and other climate disasters.

Currently’s John Morales, author of our daily Miami newsletter, has a helpful video explaining the context of Florida’s record-setting marine heatwave.

—Eric Holthaus