Florida, 2001

Flash Flood in Florida, October 22, 2001

October 22, 2001 · NWS MFL · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$100,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 22, 1:45 PM EST, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 22, 1:45 PM EST, 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
245 PM EDT MON OCT 22 2001

IT WAS A TIE BETWEEN YESTERDAYS 12Z AVN AND ETA MODELS.  THE AVN
FORECASTED THE HEAVY RAIN LAST NIGHT...ASSOCIATED WITH A VORT MAX
AND STRONG UPWARD VERTICAL MOTION THAT MOVED FROM CUBA ACROSS
SOUTHEAST FLORIDA LAST NIGHT...WHILE THE ETA HAD A BETTER HANDLE ON
THE STRENGTH OF THE SURFACE LOW...WITH CONSEQUENT LIGHTER WINDS.

THIS MORNING BOTH MODELS SHOW THE SWATH OF DEEP LAYER MOISTURE
CONTINUING ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA THROUGH FRIDAY. FORCING MECHANISMS
HOWEVER WILL BE QUITE WEAK WITH PIECES OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING
NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS THE AREA RATHER THAN A STRONG SYSTEM THAT THE
AVN HAD BEEN FORECASTING. AS IS USUALLY THE CASE...THE STRONGEST
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SURFACE LOW WILL LIKELY BE NORTHEAST OF FLORIDA.
WELL DEFINED UPPER LEVEL LOW NEAR THE WEST END OF CUBA IS FORECAST
TO MOVE NORTH THEN NORTHEAST AND WILL LIKELY ENHANCE CONVECTION
OVERNIGHT TONIGHT ACROSS SOUTH FLORIDA...BUT PROBABLY NOT AS MUCH AS
LAST NIGHT WITH AVN SHOWING WEAKER MOTION FIELD THAN LAST NIGHT.

AFTER TONIGHT...EXPECT THAT CONVECTION WILL BE MUCH MORE DIURNAL
WITH AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS THE PREDOMINANT WEATHER
MAKER.  SOME SUNSHINE DURING THE MORNING HOURS...BUT ABUNDANT MID
AND HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE WILL KEEP EVEN THE MORNING/NIGHTS WITH SOME
CLOUDS.

EXTENDED...
STRONGEST COLD FRONT OF THE SEASON SO FAR IS FORECAST TO MOVE
THROUGH SOUTH FLORIDA FRIDAY.  MRF SHOWS WINDS SHIFTING TO NORTHWEST
ON THURSDAY NIGHT...AHEAD OF THE FROPA...WHICH WILL REDUCE LOW LEVEL
CONVERGENCE AND LIMIT THE CHANCES OF INCREASED CONVECTION WITH THE
ACTUAL FROPA. SECONDARY PUSH OF DRIER AIR ON SATURDAY...KEEPS
SURFACE WINDS FROM BECOMING NORTHEAST AND COLD AIR ADVECTION WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY.

BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...DEEP LAYER MOISTURE IS FORECAST TO
RETURN FROM THE EAST...BUT BY THEN SURF TEMPS WILL BE LOWER...AND
DEW POINTS WILL PROBABLY NOT RETURN TO PREFRONTAL LEVELS.

MARINE...
PREFRONTAL WINDS WILL NOT BE AS STRONG AS FORECAST
YESTERDAY...MOSTLY FROM THE SOUTHWEST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS. WINDS WILL
INCREASE TO 15 TO 20 KNOTS LATE FRIDAY AND AROUND 20 KNOTS SATURDAY
AND SUNDAY.

PBI WW 074/087 074/088 074 5645
FLL WW 074/087 074/088 075 5645
MIA WW 075/087 075/088 075 5645
APF WW 072/085 073/087 074 6645

.MIA...NONE.

The radar

The Miami radar (KAMX), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Broward

When
October 22, 2:30 PM EST to 4:30 PM EST
Where
Broward County, Northeast Portion
Property damage
$100,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
26.152, -80.456 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Up to 10 inches of rain fell in 2 hours at Lighthouse Point and up to a total of 12 inches fell across portions of northeast metropolitan Broward County. Severe street flooding caused many stalled vehicles and 25 houses and 25 to 30 apartments suffered flood damage.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Florida in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, October 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5270501.