Florida Flood Threat Grows as Rainfall Tops 22 Inches
WHAT:
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - The Learjet’s altitude changed by as much as 700 feet during jolts before it crashed.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - Jeff Berardelli’s analysis also identified a 19-inch rainfall total in six hours in southwest Mississippi and more than three inches in three hours near Henderson, Nevada.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - Miami experienced 11 consecutive days at the moderate flooding threshold, including two days at the major threshold; this was the city’s longest such streak on record.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - The European model ensemble forecast additional minor coastal flooding in Miami for the next 10 days; rainfall runoff was expected to combine with high tides in a compound flood event.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - Miami recorded a flood level that would have been a one-in-10-year event in 1931 on 24 days during the period Sep. 25–Nov. 2.
[Time not stated] - The Washington Post - Radar estimates indicated up to 28 inches of rain fell in parts of Florida’s Space Coast over about a day and a half. Jeff Berardelli wrote, “I’ve NEVER seen anything like this.”
[Time not stated] - WESH - Rainfall totals included 8.4 inches at Satellite Beach, 6.2 inches at Viera, 5.7 inches at Cocoa Beach, and 5 inches at Titusville.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - A Learjet flying from Texas to Florida crashed minutes after encountering icing and moderate turbulence in a thunderstorm at 35,000 feet; all nine passengers were killed.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - Miami had 15 days of moderate coastal flooding in 2026, surpassing its previous annual record of 10 days set in 2019. Four of the top 15 water levels recorded at Virginia Key since its tide gauge was installed in 1994 occurred during the October 2026 king tides.
[Time not stated] - WPBF - South Florida received between 6 and 16 inches of rain in spots over 24 hours; additional rain was expected to fall on saturated ground, increasing flooding risk.
[Time not stated] - WPBF - A flood watch was in effect for Palm Beach County until 11 p.m.; flash-flood warnings covered parts of St. Lucie, Indian River, Palm Beach and Broward counties, with listed warning expirations between 8 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.
[Time not stated] - WPBF - Flood warnings covered central Martin/south-central St. Lucie counties until 7:30 p.m., northern Indian River County until 9:30 p.m., and parts of Indian River, Martin and St. Lucie counties until 8:45 p.m.
[Time not stated] - WESH - Reported rainfall totals included 22.78 inches at Grant-Valkaria, 21.8 inches at Port Malabar and 20.93 inches at Berner Beach. Other Brevard County totals included 18.25 inches at West Lynbrook, 16.7 at Melbourne Beach, 13.50 at West Melbourne and 9.9 at Melbourne.
[Time not stated] - WESH - Central Florida totals in the previous 24 hours included 6.69 inches at Apopka, 6.62 at Lake Harney near Geneva, 6.52 at Christmas and 6.05 at Lockhart.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Flash Flood Emergency for West Melbourne and Palm Bay because of potential catastrophic flooding. Rainfall from Sunday through midday Monday reached 15–20 inches, with another 2–4 inches possible.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - Melbourne recorded 10.28 inches before noon, making Monday its wettest day on record in records dating to 1937. The NWS placed the region at “Moderate” risk, level 3 of 4, for extreme rainfall.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - The NWS warned of 5–15 inches in a corridor from Melbourne to just north of Fort Pierce. Sebring received 5–9 inches, with another 2–3 inches possible.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - Jeff Berardelli’s radar-and-gauge-based MRMS analysis estimated 17 inches in six hours at Palm Beach Gardens, nearly twice the local 1,000-year-rainfall criterion of 9 inches.
[Time not stated] - WESH - Another storm system was forecast to bring potential widespread rainfall late in the week; cold fronts were expected toward the end of the seven-day forecast to bring drier air.
WHERE:
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - The Learjet was flying from Texas to Florida.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - The Learjet encountered the storm over Florida.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - Sea level in Miami had risen about 1.12 feet since 1931 and about 8 inches since 1994.
[Time not stated] - WPBF - Warnings named communities including West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Fort Pierce, Vero Beach, Port St. Lucie and Stuart.
[Time not stated] - WESH - The highest listed totals were in Brevard County and other Central Florida locations.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - Heavy rain and flooding affected Florida’s central coast and the peninsula; coastal flooding also affected Miami.
WHEN:
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - The Miami flood streak ended Sunday, November 1.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - Miami’s minor coastal flooding forecast covered the next 10 days.
WHY:
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - Florida’s extreme rain resulted from moist easterly air steered by a strong high-pressure system to the northeast and a weak upper-level low over the state. Slow-moving storms repeatedly crossed the same areas.
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - Record-to-near-record warm ocean temperatures off Florida’s east coast enhanced rainfall conditions. Climate Central’s Ocean Shift Index found human-caused climate change made waters that warm 10–100 times more likely.
HOW:
[Time not stated] - Yale Climate Connections - Repeated thunderstorms produced torrential rain and flash flooding; the Palm Beach Gardens rainfall estimate used radar interpolation and limited gauge data, and may not match an on-the-ground gauge total.
(UPDATED November 3, 2026 19:04 UTC)
Torrential storms dropped up to 28 inches across Florida’s Space Coast, triggering emergency flood warnings. Melbourne set a daily rainfall record, while saturated ground heightened flooding risks across South Florida. Miami endured its longest coastal-flooding streak on record, with more minor flooding forecast.
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(UPDATED November 3, 2026 14:03 UTC)
Torrential Florida rain triggered catastrophic flood warnings, with some areas receiving over 20 inches. Slow-moving thunderstorms drenched the peninsula, setting Melbourne’s wettest-day record. Miami also broke its annual coastal-flooding record.
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(UPDATED November 3, 2026 04:01 UTC)
Severe flooding threatened Florida’s central coast after torrential rains soaked communities from Melbourne to Palm Beach. Some locations received more than twenty inches, while emergency warnings covered several counties. More rain threatened saturated ground, as slow-moving storms repeatedly drenched the region.