S. led to favorable conditions for showers and thunderstorms along the Atlantic sea breeze situated over the eastern half of South Florida on the afternoon of May 5, 2025.
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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.
High moisture levels across South Florida in association with a stationary front over North Florida and upper level low pressure over the eastern U.S. led to favorable conditions for showers and thunderstorms along the Atlantic sea breeze situated over the eastern half of South Florida on the afternoon of May 5, 2025.
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 May 5, 11:49 AM EST, 1 hour 21 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Miami FL 1249 PM EDT Mon May 5 2025 ...New SHORT TERM, AVIATION, MARINE, BEACHES... ...Strong to Severe Thunderstorms SE Florida This Afternoon... ...Main Threats are Large Hail and Damaging Wind... .SHORT TERM... (Rest of today through Tuesday) Issued at 1240 PM EDT Mon May 5 2025 A slow-moving deep layered low pressure system over Tennessee and Kentucky has a trough which extends south into the eastern Gulf. At the surface, a stationary front lies across Central Florida. South of the front, a weak ridge is across South Florida. The low pressure system is expected to move north over the next 24-36 hours, finally lessening its influence on South Florida's weather, with a shortwave mid/upper level ridge building into our area on Tuesday. Similar to yesterday, the influence of the deep layered low pressure will contribute to a few strong to severe thunderstorms this afternoon across portions of South Florida. Colder air aloft (exemplified by -22C at 400 mb from the morning Miami sounding) is leading to mid-level lapse rates of 7 to 7.5 C/km. Dewpoints at midday are in the lower to mid 70s, noticeably higher than the past several days. Plenty of morning sunshine will result in highs reaching the upper 80s to lower 90s most areas before convective initiation, with CAPE values around 2500 J/kg this afternoon. These parameters are more conducive for strong to severe storms compared to yesterday, with the only potential limiting factor is drier mid/upper level air. Model consensus is for thunderstorms to develop early this afternoon along a zone from the central Everglades to western suburbs of Palm Beach County, generally along the convergence of the east and west coast seabreezes, and the Lake Okeechobee breeze in Palm Beach County. Storm motion will be generally NE-E, but with the slightly stronger SE low level winds, the bulk of the convection should concentrate over the interior. As was the case yesterday, outflows will propagate away from the storms and lead to redeveloping convection over interior SW Florida as well as closer to the east coast metro areas. Also, with 25-35 knots of westerly mid-level winds opposing the low level SE winds, there could once again be cold pools which could enhance backbuilding convection along mesoscale boundaries. The main hazards for this afternoon are large hail and damaging wind, and accordingly SPC has upgraded the severe thunderstorm risk to Slight/Level 2 of 5. There is also a significantly lower (but non-zero) threat of a tornado. From a rainfall/flooding perspective, backbuilding and slow-moving storms have the potential of dropping as much as 2-4 inches in localized areas this afternoon and early evening, favoring interior locations but not totally ruling out portions of the east coast metro with a localized flood threat. Thunderstorms could linger as late as 8-10 PM this evening before dissipating. Lingering surface moisture and light winds overnight should set the stage for patchy fog over interior South Florida, lasting until shortly after sunrise Tuesday. After a few late night/early morning showers over the near-shore waters of both coasts, the setup for Tuesday looks to favor less instability as the ridge aloft builds in and mid/upper level temperatures rise. Temperatures in the upper 80s to lower 90s and dewpoints remaining mostly in the 70s will provide enough instability for scattered afternoon thunderstorms. As low level SE winds become more established across South Florida, favored areas for thunderstorms will shift westward to over interior SW Florida as opposed to the eastern half of the peninsula. This is reflected in the highest PoPs and QPF over those areas. A couple of stronger storms may still occur on Tuesday, but not expected to be as intense as the previous 2 days. Another result of the building ridge on Tuesday is increasing temperatures, with max temps well into the lower 90s over inland SW Florida. This coupled with dewpoints in the lower 70s will result in heat index values in the 100-103F range for a few hours across these areas. These are the highest heat index values in quite a while, so persons are advised to use extra caution to protect themselves against the heat. Elsewhere, heat index on Tuesday will top out in the lower to mid 90s. && .LONG TERM... (Tuesday night through Sunday) Issued at 220 AM EDT Mon May 5 2025 Overall drier weather through Thursday and Friday as mid-to-upper level ridging rebuilds back into the area from the south and weak surface high pressure sits over the Gulf and western Atlantic. Minimal shower chances are expected each day, mainly in the afternoon and evening hours during peak diurnal heating and when the sea breezes advance inland. By the weekend, a slow moving upper level trough will approach the northern Gulf. Moisture advection will occur at this point as South Florida will be in the southeast quadrant of the system, which will usher in extra moisture from the Caribbean via southerly low level and surface flow. Dew points could rise into the 70s on a daily basis, resulting in a more unstable atmosphere and bringing higher chances of showers and thunderstorms back to South Florida each day from Saturday through the end of the forecast period. Temperatures will remain slightly above normal across the east coast metro with highs in the middle 80s, and above normal over interior and SW FL with highs each day in the upper 80s to lower 90s. Lows in the 60s/70s are expected each night, with the warmest overnight lows near the Atlantic coast. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1240 PM EDT Mon May 5 2025 TSRA developing over the peninsula and expected to affect MIA- FLL-PBI corridor in the 19z-01z time frame. Expect occasional MVFR and brief IFR conditions along with wind gusts 35 knots or higher to affect at least a few of the terminals. KAPF will remain precip-free and VFR through the period. TSRA dissipating, with mainly VFR conditions after 02z, with only isolated SHRA or TSRA for remainder of forecast period. Wind SE 10-13 knots, except SW seabreeze at KAPF through 01z. && .MARINE... Issued at 1240 PM EDT Mon May 5 2025 High pressure will slowly rebuild over the local waters this week, with prevailing winds out of the SE at 10-15 knots and seas generally less than 4 ft. The main threat over the local waters will be showers and thunderstorms, primarily this afternoon and tonight, causing locally higher wind and seas. && .BEACHES... Issued at 1240 PM EDT Mon May 5 2025 The rip current risk will remain low for most of the week as SE winds be mainly less than 15 mph. As is the case with the local waters, the primary beach threat will be lightning and locally strong wind gusts during the afternoon. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Miami 75 86 75 86 / 50 20 0 10 West Kendall 71 89 72 89 / 40 20 0 10 Opa-Locka 74 89 74 89 / 50 20 0 10 Homestead 74 86 74 86 / 40 20 0 10 Fort Lauderdale 74 85 75 84 / 60 20 0 10 N Ft Lauderdale 74 85 74 85 / 60 20 0 10 Pembroke Pines 76 90 76 90 / 50 20 0 10 West Palm Beach 72 86 73 86 / 60 20 10 20 Boca Raton 74 87 74 86 / 60 20 10 20 Naples 71 89 71 88 / 10 40 10 20 && .MFL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...None. AM...None. GM...None. && SHORT TERM...Molleda LONG TERM....Redman AVIATION...Molleda
The Miami radar (KAMX), 123 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:07 UTC.
5 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Broadcast media relayed public video of hailstones estimated to be around the size of quarter dollars falling into a swimming pool during a thunderstorm in the Westlake area near Wellington.
A trained spotter reported hail to the size of quarter dollars piling up in her yard near Lake Worth Road between US 441 and Florida's Turnpike.
A trained spotter near Lake Worth Road and Jog Road reported hail up to the size of quarter dollars during a severe thunderstorm.
A trained spotter reported hail between the size of a quarter dollar and ping pong balls falling during a severe thunderstorm in west Boynton Beach.
A trained spotter reported hail ranging in size from peas to quarter dollars during a severe thunderstorm around W Boynton Beach Blvd and Lyons Rd.
Mesonet station 1529W at the City of Sunrise Fire Station 83 reported a 58 mph wind gust with a severe thunderstorm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, May 2025
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: 1266914, 1266917, 1266919, 1266922, 1266924, 1266926.