A continued lack of rainfall allowed pre-existing drought conditions to worsen in the month of January with much of South Florida entering a severe drought.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 continued lack of rainfall allowed pre-existing drought conditions to worsen in the month of January with much of South Florida entering a severe drought.
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 Jan 27, 9:40 AM EST, 20 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Miami FL
940 AM EST Tue Jan 27 2026
...New UPDATE...
.KEY MESSAGES...
Updated at 922 AM EST Tue Jan 27 2026
- Below average temperatures are expected through the week. Cold
apparent temperatures in the low to mid 30s are forecast
for Glades/Hendry/Collier counties early today and again
tonight into Wednesday.
- Marine conditions have deteriorated as a strong cold front
passed through the area. Gale Warnings for Atlantic and Gulf
waters through early Tuesday morning, transitioning to a
Small Craft Advisory by mid Tuesday morning as winds weaken.
- Low relative humidities and elevated winds behind the front
this week could result in periods of enhanced fire behavior,
especially during the afternoon hours.
- Very cold temperatures possible late weekend into early next
week as another strong cold front passage is expected.
&&
.UPDATE...
Issued at 922 AM EST Tue Jan 27 2026
A cold start to our morning with an arctic airmass now descending
upon SoFlo. Morning lows around the Miami metro area reached the
mid-upper 40s in general, and in the upper 30s around the Lake
region. The Cold Weather Advisory for this morning expired at 9
AM, but another advisory for Glades, Hendry and portions of
Collier counties will be in effect again tonight for wind chill
values down to around 30 degrees.
Winds will remain breezy with periods of gusts through this
afternoon, then gradually subsiding to around 10 mph tonight. But
winds have weaken enough to let the Gale Warning expire and
replace it with Small Craft Advisories for most marine zones.
In general, expect the colder conditions to linger for longer time
compared to the two previous cold events this season, with
potential for experiencing yet another (colder) arctic airmass for
late this weekend into early next week.
&&
.SHORT TERM...
(Today through Wednesday)
Issued at 1224 AM EST Tue Jan 27 2026
A cold front has passed through the region late tonight, leading
to the development of gusty north-northwesterly flow and much
drier conditions. Lows early this morning are expected to bottom
out in the lower 50s along the east coast, with 40s along the west
coast and upper 30s to low 40s across interior areas. The breezy
winds will allow for the wind chills to drop into the low 30s to
upper 40s early this morning, with lowest wind chills likely just
before sunrise. A Cold Weather Advisory will remain in effect for
Glades, Hendry and inland Collier county through 9AM this
morning.
High pressure will nudge eastward across the Southeast through the
day today, leading to a weakening of the surface pressure gradient
and subsequent weakening of surface wind flow across South Florida
by late this afternoon. This should allow for a transition from Gale
Warnings across local waters to Small Craft Advisories for the
afternoon and evening hours. Wind direction will remain northerly,
however, which should act to maintain the cooler and drier air mass
tonight into early Wednesday morning. Lows tonight (Tuesday night
into Wednesday morning) will drop into the low to mid 30s across
Hendry, Glades and interior Collier County where another Cold
Weather Advisory will take effect from midnight Wednesday until 9
AM Wednesday. At this time probability is prolonged sub-freezing
temperatures remain on the lower end in the 30% range and confined
to Glades County, so holding off on any freeze- related products
with this update.
&&
.LONG TERM...
(Wednesday night through Monday)
Issued at 1224 AM EST Tue Jan 27 2026
Mid-upper level troughing will remain in place over the Eastern
United States which could facilitate a secondary reinforcing cold
frontal passage late on Wednesday. A more notable cold front passage
is expected late on Saturday which could bring the coldest air mass
of the season thus far...more on that in a bit.
Through the remainder of the work-week AND upcoming weekend, north-
northwesterly flow will prevail. This will maintain below average
temperatures and a dry air mass across South Florida through the
remainder of the period. Despite the persistent below-average
temperatures, a slight warming trend in daily low temperatures will
occur Wednesday-Saturday. Low temperatures will reach the low 30s to
upper 40s early Thursday morning, lower 40s to upper 50s on Friday
morning, and mid 40s to upper 50s Saturday morning. Behind the
passage of the next strong cold front on Saturday, lows early Sunday
morning could be the coolest of the season thus far. Temperatures
could fall as low as the 20s over the Lake Okeechobee region to 30s
over the remaining areas. The wind chills could drop into the teens
across the Lake Okeechobee region and low to mid 20s across the rest
of South Florida. This is potentially encroaching on Extreme Cold
Warning territory and we will continue to monitor the latest
trends through the week. Aside from the cooler temperatures, the
chance for isolated to scattered showers returns to the forecast
ahead of the weekend front on Friday and Saturday.
Visit our website for graphical temperature forecasts (hover over
'Forecast' and then click 'Cold Weather'). Describing temperatures
across every part of the forecast area through text is a bit clunky.
&&
.AVIATION...
(12Z TAFS)
Issued at 710 AM EST Tue Jan 27 2026
VFR expected to prevail at all terminals during the next 24 hours.
NNW winds will continue today with periods of gusts in the 20-25kt
range through around 28/00Z. Winds will then decrease to around
6-10kt tonight but remaining generally from the NNW.
&&
.MARINE...
Issued at 1224 AM EST Tue Jan 27 2026
Gusty north-northwesterly winds prevail behind a strong cold front
passage. A Gale Warning remains in place through this morning for
all local waters as gusts between 30-40kts over local waters remain
likely. This will transition into a Small Craft Advisory later this
morning as winds are expected to remain elevated, although will
begin to relax. Waves will peak between 7-9 feet across the Gulf
waters and 10-12 feet across the Atlantic waters later this
morning.
&&
.BEACHES...
Issued at 1224 AM EST Tue Jan 27 2026
A high risk of rip currents remains across all local beaches today
as breezy northerly flow prevails.
The continuation of northerly elevated winds through much of the
work week along with building wave heights across both the Atlantic
and Gulf waters will result in periods of elevated rip currents
throughout the week primarily across Atlantic beaches.
&&
.FIRE WEATHER...
Issued at 1224 AM EST Tue Jan 27 2026
A strong cold front has passed through South Florida, bringing a
much drier airmass and gusty winds into the region. The combination
of very low relative humidities, elevated winds, and dry vegetation
may set the stage for periods of enhanced fire behavior across
portions of the region each afternoon for the rest of the work-week.
What is notable about the current pattern is that the prolonged
duration of northerly flow (via additional cold fronts) across the
region through the upcoming weekend will act to reinforce the drier
airmass in place, resulting in progressively lower relative humidity
values each afternoon as the week progresses. This prolonged
duration of a drier than normal airmass may compound the drying of
vegetation (fuels) across the region in tandem with the pre-existing
moderate to severe drought.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Miami 68 52 69 51 / 0 0 20 10
West Kendall 69 46 70 46 / 0 0 10 10
Opa-Locka 69 51 70 50 / 0 0 20 10
Homestead 70 51 71 50 / 0 0 20 10
Fort Lauderdale 67 52 69 50 / 0 10 20 20
N Ft Lauderdale 67 52 69 50 / 0 10 20 10
Pembroke Pines 69 50 70 49 / 0 10 20 20
West Palm Beach 65 51 68 48 / 0 0 10 10
Boca Raton 67 51 69 48 / 0 10 20 10
Naples 64 42 64 43 / 0 0 0 0
&&
.MFL WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...Cold Weather Advisory from midnight tonight to 9 AM EST
Wednesday for FLZ063-066-070.
High Rip Current Risk until 1 PM EST this afternoon for FLZ069.
High Rip Current Risk until 7 PM EST this evening for FLZ168-172-
173.
AM...Small Craft Advisory until 10 AM EST this morning for AMZ610-630.
Small Craft Advisory until 7 AM EST Wednesday for AMZ650-651-670-
671.
GM...Small Craft Advisory until 3 PM EST this afternoon for GMZ656-
657-676.
&&
SHORT TERM...Rizzuto
LONG TERM....Rizzuto
AVIATION/UPDATE...17The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
A severe (D2) drought developed over coastal Palm Beach County during the middle of January.
A severe (D2) drought developed over metro Palm Beach County during the middle of January.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, January 2026
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: 1313651, 1313653.