South-east Florida floods: 1-in-1000-year historic event

An unprecedented amount of rainfall fell across south-east Florida in recent days.

Around 600 mm of rain fell within a period of seven hours in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday 12th April 2023, as a strong thunderstorm affected the area. A state of emergency was soon declared.

People were stranded at Fort Lauderdale airport for hours on end as water rushed onto the runway like a river. The Miami F1 Grand Prix circuit was also underwater, with many buildings and homes inundated too.

The seven-hour stretch of heavy rainfall wiped the previous 24-hour rainfall record from 1979 clean, with an astounding increase of around 280 mm from the new record set on the 12th. In just one hour, a month's worth of rain fell.

Usually thunderstorms or heavy showers fizzle out after a while, as the air loses moisture or cold air gets sucked in.

However in this instance, it was heavily fuelled by the warmth and moisture of the Gulf Stream, and also stuck between two weather systems.

The thunderstorm in question was a supercell, a very strong kind of thunderstorm that is capable of producing devastating tornadoes.