Miami registers the hottest May in its entire history

With a little over a week left, this May is already classified as the hottest in history in Miami, according to experts.

Last weekend, temperature records were set that raised the average heat index to a record number for the month of May, said Brian McNoldy, Senior Research Associate at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami, to the Miami Herald.

"These temperatures in May are completely out of the ordinary," McNoldy stated, and explained that the heat index - a record that combines temperature and humidity - from last weekend in Miami "would have been exceptional even in three other months."

McNoldy created an online chart that updates the heat index daily. The figures for this month are competing with, and even surpassing, the usual late summer temperatures.

Historically, the first and second weeks of August are the hottest time of the year, the newspaper article recalls. However, the temperatures from this past weekend reached a heat index of 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44.4 °C), "six degrees higher than any heat index recorded in May."

Apart from the crazy 2023, the heat index has already spent more time above the 108°F threshold (and tied with 110°+) in Miami than in any other full year,” McNoldy stated on his X account. “And it’s not even June yet.”

According to the expert interviewed by the Miami newspaper, this weekend there was the "perfect combination" of ridge pressure (where the air sinks and warms up), fewer clouds, and humid air entering from the southwest.

Likewise, the numbers reveal other records broken at the end of last week. On Sunday, nighttime temperatures averaged 89°F (31.6°C).

This brand represents "a tie for the third highest daily average nighttime temperature ever recorded in Miami, and that had never happened in May before," he said.

At the beginning of last week, the National Weather Service (NWS) of the U.S. had warned about a heatwave that would hit South Florida in the following days, with a higher impact in the cities of Miami, West Palm, Cape Coral, Palm Bay, Tampa, and Orlando.

For this reason, he urged residents to be aware of possible warnings about "dangerous heat indexes."

According to reports, up to this Monday, four new daily average temperature records and record levels of humidity have been established in Miami over the last five days.

However, the NWS predictions for the next week would bring relief, as experts foresee a decrease in the excessive heat for those days, partly due to the rain.

This Tuesday afternoon, thunderstorms with heavy rain were recorded in Miami and other cities in southern Florida, although "precipitation remains well below the monthly average," as reported by 7 Weather.

The weather report in the city of the Sun revealed a "20-degree drop" (°F) in the afternoon -between noon and 4 p.m.- in Miami, due to the strong storms.

The Meteorological Service for Miami and South Florida forecasted that this Wednesday, maximum temperatures will rise above 80 degrees throughout southeast Florida and will be around 90 degrees in the southwest. Additionally, it pointed out that thunderstorms are possible in the afternoon, with the highest probability in inland areas.

NWS experts predict another scorching summer in Miami. 2023 was the hottest on record in the city.