Nearly a Foot of Rain Floods Brevard County and Closes Its Schools; Fort Myers Gets a Soaking Monday of Its Own
West Melbourne recorded 11.9 inches of rain in 24 hours as torrential downpours flooded Florida's Space Coast on Monday. Southwest Florida's share is smaller but real: heavy morning downpours, localized flooding in poor-drainage spots, and another inch or so possible before the rain eases.
November opened with a deluge on Florida's east coast. Almost a foot of rain fell in parts of Brevard County over 24 hours — 11.9 inches in West Melbourne, according to National Weather Service totals reported Monday — and torrential downpours caused severe flooding, closed every Brevard County public school for the day, and prompted Sheriff Wayne Ivey to urge residents to stay home unless travel was necessary. Flood watches, warnings and advisories were posted across several Florida counties as a wide swath of intense rain stretched coast to coast.
Southwest Florida is on the wetter edge of the same system, not in its bullseye. Fort Myers recorded less than an inch along the coast and 1 to 3 inches in interior Lee County, and National Weather Service Tampa Bay meteorologist Matt Anderson said the region could see another inch or so on Monday, with up to 2 inches in some locations. The Weather Service forecast calls for scattered to numerous showers and isolated thunderstorms, with heavy downpours capable of brief flooding in urban, low-lying and poor-drainage areas; rain chances are highest in the morning into early afternoon and decrease later in the day. A Small Craft Advisory is in effect for portions of the coastal waters.
The station's live feed put Fort Myers at 77.9 degrees late Monday morning, heading for a high near 80. The pattern breaks quickly: Election Day Tuesday is forecast at 81 degrees with rain chances falling sharply, and the rest of the week dries out and warms into the mid-80s — a wet start to November that gives way to porch weather by Thursday.
