Significant amounts of rain in the past two days have led the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, to declare a state of emergency for the counties of Broward, Collier, Lee, Miami-Dade and Sarasota, while the mayors of Miami-Dade, Miami and Fort Lauderdale also declared a state of emergency.
This has resulted in a number of closures for public schools, courts and Dania Beach’s city hall, where there were at least 40 rescues by emergency services. Rail routes across Miami and the surrounding area were also suspended. The flooding occurred after more than 380mm (15in) of rain fell on several southern Florida cities in just two days.
The highest totals were recorded in North Miami, where more than 500mm fell after frequent and heavy thunderstorms over a short space of time.
One storm in Sarasota on Tuesday evening brought nearly 100mm of rain within an hour, which David Parkinson, the senior weather producer at CBS News, said was a record for the area.
There was also flooding across the Spanish island of Mallorca after a freak storm on Tuesday stranded thousands of people, with planes grounded at Palma airport. The airport was closed after storms brought more than 50mm of rain in the space of three hours. Water streamed from the ceiling of the airport shopping area and cars struggled to cross the flooded car park. The airport reopened later on Tuesday evening after the rains eased.
Unseasonable warm weather has occurred across the North Island of New Zealand as the country’s warmest ever June temperature was recorded at Hastings on Monday with a high of 25.7C (78.2F). This also qualified as the North Island’s warmest ever winter temperature, which goes from June to August.
The unseasonably high temperatures across the North Island were a result of a warm air mass over New Zealand that originated in the Coral Sea, and this was combined with a north-westerly airflow that resulted in the foehn effect to the south-east of the Central Plateau, with the air warmed as it descended from the higher terrain into Hawke’s Bay.
