Climate Change Brings Summertime Heat to Florida’s Early Spring
Record-breaking temperatures all around the Gulf coast could increase the risk from big storms.
A beach stands closed in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami, Florida on April 8, 2020.
Photographer: Marco Bello/BloombergFlorida is caught between a climate change-induced sauna of extreme spring temperatures and a steam bath caused by warming oceans. The result has been record-setting heat that has turned April into summertime across the peninsula, raising the risk that early season Atlantic storms could blossom off the coast.
Miami reached 93 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday, a record for the date and 10 degrees above normal, according to the National Weather Service. The combination of temperature and humidity has made many places in Florida feel closer to 100 degrees for weeks, said Jim Rouiller, lead forecaster at the Energy Weather Group.