Palm Beach Gardens flood watch ends after record rain

Updated Nov. 4: The flood watch ended at 11 p.m. Monday and was not renewed. Gov. Ron DeSantis added Palm Beach County to the state flood emergency Wednesday; see our state of emergency story.

Updated Nov. 2: The weather service extended the flood watch for Palm Beach County to 11 p.m. Monday. The city says parts of Palm Beach Gardens, Riviera Beach and The Acreage got more than 15 inches of rain in about 12 hours, and several neighborhoods have standing water. The street list, rain totals and closures are in our Monday flooding story.

The National Weather Service in Miami issued a flash flood warning for northeastern Palm Beach County, including Palm Beach Gardens, at 5:23 p.m. Sunday. Radar and automated rain gauges showed 2.5 to 3.5 inches of rain had already fallen across the warned area.

The warning ran until 7:15 p.m. A wider flood watch for all of Palm Beach County stays in force until 3 p.m. Monday, and more storms are forecast through Election Day on Tuesday.

What the warning said

The weather service said thunderstorms were dropping rain at 1.5 to 2 inches an hour, with 1 to 2 more inches possible. It said flash flooding was “ongoing or expected to begin shortly.” That is in the text of the flash flood warning.

The places it named included:

• Palm Beach Gardens
• North Palm Beach, about seven miles east
• Lake Park, about seven miles southeast
• Riviera Beach, about seven miles southeast
• West Palm Beach, about eight miles south
• Haverhill and Mangonia Park

It warned of flooding on streets, highways and underpasses and in poor drainage and low-lying areas. Its instruction was: “Turn around, don’t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles.”

At 6:27 p.m. the office was tracking a strong thunderstorm over Riviera Beach moving north at 5 mph. Its special weather statement listed Palm Beach Gardens in the storm’s path, with wind gusts of 45 to 50 mph that could bring down tree limbs. It said torrential rain from the storm could cause localized flooding.

The flood watch through Monday

The flood watch, issued at 12:49 p.m. Sunday, covers coastal, metro and inland Palm Beach County, Broward County and Miami-Dade County. A watch means flooding is possible; a warning means it is happening or about to.

The weather service said:

• scattered places along the east coast could get 3 to 5 inches of rain through Monday
• isolated spots could see 5 to 7 inches, possibly within a few hours
• the main risk is street flooding and road closures, with limited impact on buildings in flood-prone areas
• impacts could be worse if the heaviest rain falls near the coast at high tide

It said uncertainty is high over exactly where the heaviest rain will fall.

Forecast for Palm Beach Gardens to Election Day

The weather service forecast for Palm Beach Gardens, as of Sunday evening:

What it means for you

• Do not drive into standing water. It is the weather service’s own advice, and flooded underpasses and low spots are where cars stall.
• Monday’s commute may be slow. Rain is likely until about 5 p.m. Monday, while the flood watch runs to 3 p.m. Check our road construction and closures page before you set out, including the Beeline Highway lane closures that are already in place.
• Storms are likely on Election Day. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, and anyone in line at 7 p.m. can still vote. Our voting page has the polling place lookup.
• Power out? Report it to Florida Power & Light. The number and the outage map are on our power outages page.
• Call 911 if anyone is in danger. For anything else, City Hall’s main line is 561-799-4100. Our hurricane prep page lists the city’s emergency management contacts.

We will update this story when the flood watch ends or the weather service issues a new warning.