A frontal boundary moved into the region which allowed scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms to develop. In the moist and unstable air mass a thunderstorm developed and produced a tornado along outflow and boundary interactions.
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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.
The episode as NWS MFL wrote it up.
A frontal boundary moved into the region which allowed scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms to develop. In the moist and unstable air mass a thunderstorm developed and produced a tornado along outflow and boundary interactions.
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 Mar 31, 12:55 PM EST, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Miami FL
155 PM EDT Sat Mar 31 2018
.AVIATION...Coverage of SHRA lower than expected, with east
coast seabreeze already inland of most ATLC TAF sites. Front
currently KAPF-KPBI, so VCSH for KPBI until seabreeze kicks in
after 20Z. VCSH will continue at KAPF through this evening, with better
chances just east of site with likely seabreeze collision 22Z-00Z. Can't
rule out isold TSRA, but threat looks to be mainly over interior. Brief
MVFR to IFR possible under any SHRA/TSRA. Light east winds
overnight with potential for patchy ground fog towards daybreak.
Current chances too low to include at the moment.
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 1010 AM EDT Sat Mar 31 2018/
UPDATE...Cold front currently moving into the Lake Okeechobee
region late this morning, where it's more or less expected to wash
out later today, especially as flow behind it has already veered
NNE. We've gotten just enough daytime heating before the higher
clouds moved in to kick off some isolated shower development,
mainly along the east coast where a diffuse east coast seabreeze
is getting going.
Modified morning sounding isn't too enthusiastic about
instability, which seems reasonable given the increasing high
clouds at this time of morning. Developing cumulus suggests some
continuing surface convergence along the front even as it dies,
and this along with both the Atlantic and Gulf seabreezes and a
modest 500mb trough swinging through may be enough to kick off a
storm or two. Expect this would mainly be along any boundary
collisions over the interior this afternoon.
Have made adjustments to the forecast to dial back pops and storm
chances for the east coast based on this thinking. While it looks
to be a somewhat cloudy day across the region, don't expect
rainfall to be widespread and many will still lose out on much
needed precipitation.
PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 352 AM EDT Sat Mar 31 2018/
DISCUSSION...
Short term (Today-Monday night)...a rather diffuse frontal
boundary moving across central western Florida will slowly drift
into the northern areas of South Florida today. It will bring
enough instability to support scattered showers across the area.
Best chances will happen during the afternoon hours as sea breezes
develop and push inland. A few thunderstorms may also develop as
sea breeze boundaries interact, more so over interior areas.
Widespread significant rainfall is not expected today, although
some locally heavy downpours are possible.
Shower coverage decreases on Sunday as the front dissipates over the
area. High pressure begins to quickly establish with a broad
ridge dominating the SE states early next week. Temperatures will
remain close to normals, with afternoon highs in the the low-mid
80s and minima in the mid-upper 60s.
Long term (Tuesday-Friday)...global models show dominant deep high
pressure across much of the region on Tuesday and into early
Wednesday, before a very weak frontal boundary reaches the state
late Wednesday with no significant impacts expected over South
Florida. Temperatures will remain near normal for the first week
of April.
MARINE...Benign boating conditions will continue as a remnant
frontal boundary dissipates over the region. Mainly light winds
will prevail through Monday, then increasing to around 10-15 mph
by mid week. Some showers are possible through Monday.
BEACH FORECAST...High risk of rip currents will continue on all
Atlantic beaches today, and possibly into Sunday.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
West Palm Beach 67 80 67 80 / 20 20 10 10
Fort Lauderdale 69 80 69 80 / 20 20 20 10
Miami 69 80 69 81 / 20 30 20 10
Naples 65 82 65 83 / 30 30 20 20
&&
.MFL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...High Rip Current Risk until 8 PM EDT this evening for FLZ168-172-
173.
AM...None.
GM...None.
&&
AVIATION...88/ALMHazardous Weather Outlook for South Florida National Weather Service Miami FL 1036 AM EDT Sat Mar 31 2018 AMZ610-630-650-651-670-671-FLZ063-066>075-168-172>174-GMZ656-657-676- 010245- Lake Okeechobee-Biscayne Bay- Coastal waters from Jupiter Inlet to Deerfield Beach FL out 20 NM- Coastal waters from Deerfield Beach to Ocean Reef FL out 20 NM- Waters from Jupiter Inlet to Deerfield Beach FL from 20 to 60 NM- Waters from Deerfield Beach to Ocean Reef FL from 20 to 60 NM excluding the territorial waters of Bahamas-Glades-Hendry- Inland Palm Beach-Metro Palm Beach-Coastal Collier-Inland Collier- Inland Broward-Metro Broward-Inland Miami-Dade-Metro Miami-Dade- Mainland Monroe-Coastal Palm Beach-Coastal Broward-Coastal Miami- Dade-Far South Miami-Dade- Coastal waters from Chokoloskee to Bonita Beach FL out 20 NM- Coastal waters from East Cape Sable to Chokoloskee FL out 20 NM- Waters from Chokoloskee to Bonita Beach FL from 20 to 60 NM- 1036 AM EDT Sat Mar 31 2018 ...High Risk of Rip Currents Along Atlantic Beaches... ...Isolated Thunderstorms Over the Interior This Afternoon... This hazardous weather outlook is for South Florida. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT Rip currents: There is a high risk of rip currents on Atlantic beaches today. Lightning: There will be a slight chance of thunderstorms over South Florida this afternoon, mainly over the the interior and Gulf coast. The main threat with any storms will be cloud to ground lightning strikes. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed today. For more information...visit the National Weather Service in Miami website at www.weather.gov/miami.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
1103 AM EDT SAT MAR 31 2018
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1056 AM WILDFIRE 4 SW REDLAND 25.49N 80.56W
03/31/2018 M1037 ACRE MIAMI-DADE FL PARK/FOREST SRVC
THE FLORIDA FOREST SERVICE REPORTS THE AIRPORT/CONTEXT
ROAD WILDFIRE IN SW MIAMI-DADE COUNTY HAS REACHED 1037
ACRES, WITH 520 ACRES WITHIN EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK.
THE FIRE IS AT 90% CONTAINMENT WITH NO ENDANGERMENTS
REPORTED.
&&
EVENT NUMBER MFL1800019
ALMThe Miami radar (KAMX), 133 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:00 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter reported a tornado approximately 3 miles southeast of Pahokee. The tornado was rain-wrapped and nearly stationary. The tornado remained over an open field with no damage reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Florida, 2018Warnings in Florida, March 2018
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: 743764.