MIAMI — The National Weather Service in Miami placed all of Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties under a Flood Watch from 10 a.m. Sunday, November 1, through 3 p.m. Monday, November 2, 2026, warning that repeated bands of heavy rain could flood streets, close roads and combine with high tides along Florida’s east coast. Scattered locations could pick up 3 to 5 inches of rain through Monday, the Weather Service said, with isolated spots seeing 5 to 7 inches within a few hours — enough, in the wrong place at the wrong time, to turn a routine drive into a dangerous one.
The cause is an upper-level low parked over Florida that is pulling in deep tropical moisture, according to the Weather Service. Rather than a single storm passing through, the pattern produces band after band of rain over the same coastal strip, so totals build hour by hour even though no single downpour looks exceptional on its own. That repetition is the key danger in a flood watch: the ground saturates, drains fill, and each new band has less room to go. The watch warns of isolated to scattered flash flooding, mainly flooded streets and road closures, with limited effects on buildings in flood-prone areas — a measured forecast, but one that still demands attention from anyone driving in low-lying neighbourhoods.
The rain is arriving during a stretch of high tides, which makes the timing worse. A coastal flood advisory for coastal Miami-Dade remains in effect until 7 p.m. Monday, with minor to moderate flooding of lots, parks and roads and only isolated road closures expected, according to the Weather Service. High tide at Government Cut, the inlet at Miami Beach, was at 1:18 p.m. Sunday, with low tide following at 7:35 p.m. When heavy rain falls near high tide, water that would normally drain to the sea meets a sea that is temporarily higher, and streets in the lowest areas can stay flooded longer. The Weather Service also warned of dangerous rip currents through Monday evening, a separate hazard for anyone tempted by the surf during the unsettled weather.
South Florida flood watch: what the forecast means for drivers and neighbourhoods
For residents, the practical meaning of a flood watch is different from a flood warning. A watch means conditions are favourable for flooding; a warning means flooding is happening or imminent in a specific place. The watch covering the three counties is therefore a call to prepare and to stay alert, not a statement that every street will flood. The places most at risk are familiar ones in South Florida: low-lying streets near the coast, underpasses, poorly drained intersections and neighbourhoods where the water table is already high. Drivers are urged to avoid flooded roads, because even a few inches of moving water can carry a vehicle, and the depth of a flooded street is notoriously hard to judge from behind the wheel.
The forecast details underline why the watch runs for more than a full day. Miami faced a 90 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms on Sunday, with a high near 83 degrees and east winds gusting to 24 mph, and another 1 to 2 inches of rain was possible on Sunday night alone. Monday brings another 90 percent chance of storms. In Miami Beach, the city’s French Market at South Pointe Park was called off for Sunday because of the forecast — a small disruption, but a sign of how seriously local officials were taking a weekend that also marked the final day of early voting. The city’s two early-voting sites, City Hall at 1700 Convention Center Drive and the North Shore Branch Library at 7501 Collins Avenue, were open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, and voters heading to them were advised to allow extra time and to check road conditions.
Air travel is also feeling the pressure. The Federal Aviation Administration’s operations plan for Sunday flagged possible ground stops at Miami and Fort Lauderdale airports from 10 a.m. Eastern time, reflecting fog, rain, low cloud and thunderstorms. Those are potential measures, not confirmed cancellations or airport closures, and they are a reminder that a flood watch in South Florida rarely affects roads alone. Passengers were advised to check with their airlines before travelling to the airport, and to allow for the possibility that the journey to the airport could be slower than usual if street flooding develops on the main routes.
A wet autumn across the wider United States
South Florida is not the only part of the country dealing with heavy rain this weekend. The same unsettled pattern has brought flood watches to much of the Southwest, where saturated ground in Arizona and the Four Corners region faces another round of heavy rain through Monday, a story we covered in our report on Arizona’s saturated Southwest bracing for more flash flooding. California’s coast, meanwhile, has dealt with record king tides and coastal flooding in recent days, as covered in our report on Southern California’s first rainy Halloween in decades. The common thread is a wet, unsettled autumn in which one storm system after another has left little time for rivers, drains and soils to recover between events — a pattern that makes each new watch more consequential than it would be after a dry spell.
Forecasters stress that the South Florida totals are forecasts, not measurements, and that the heaviest rain may fall in narrow bands that are hard to pinpoint in advance. One neighbourhood could receive several inches while another a few miles away receives far less. That uncertainty is built into the watch itself, which speaks of scattered and isolated totals rather than a uniform blanket of rain. Residents should therefore treat the county-wide watch as a prompt to monitor updated forecasts and local alerts, rather than as a guarantee about their own street. The National Weather Service updates its alerts as conditions change, and a watch can be upgraded to a warning for specific areas if flooding develops.
What to do until the watch expires on Monday afternoon
The advice from emergency officials during a flood watch is consistent and simple. Never drive through flooded roads, and never walk through floodwater, which may hide debris, open drains or downed power lines. Move valuables and vehicles to higher ground if your street is prone to flooding, and charge phones in case of power interruptions. Keep an eye on local government and Weather Service updates, especially around high tide, when coastal flooding is most likely to coincide with heavy rain. And if you must travel, allow extra time and have an alternative route in mind, because a single flooded underpass can close a road that looks clear on a map.
The watch expires at 3 p.m. Monday, November 2, but that does not mean the risk ends precisely on the hour. Rain may linger, drains may still be full, and coastal flooding can persist into Monday evening under the separate coastal flood advisory, which runs until 7 p.m. Monday. By Tuesday, the focus in South Florida will shift to Election Day, and the weather story will be replaced by the voting story. For now, though, the message from forecasters is clear: a long, wet, tide-timed spell of rain is moving over one of the most densely populated coastal strips in the United States, and the safest response is to treat the watch seriously, stay off flooded roads, and let the forecasts — not habit — decide whether a journey is worth making.
Sources
USN reviewed reporting from multiple outlets for this story. Read more from Red Sidewalks, South Florida Malayalees and WeatherScope.