An intense heat wave has led to numerous record highs over the past couple of weeks in Florida, but a pattern change is finally on the way as the ridge responsible shifts west and moves north into next week. This comes after our warmest month of May on record for Fort Lauderdale, Key West, W. Palm Beach, Miami, Tampa, and Orlando. All six cities have over 100 years of temperature records and May 2024 is shaping up to be the hottest on record (by average temperature) for all of the cities. We spoke with the National Weather Service in Miami, Florida about this story.
The weekend will still be hot, but trending back towards average rather than the 3-5° above average we've been the last few weeks. Heat index values should also drop so it will be more comfortable in the coming days.
In central Florida, we will see overnight lows drop too, from the 70s into the 60s a sign of a decrease of dew points. This will allow for additional overnight relief in our major cities from the intense heat.