South Florida weather, record rainfall causes flooding in Boca Raton
Torrential thunderstorms and record rainfall in South Florida caused severe flooding, temporary closure of the Boca Raton Airport on Oct. 27, 2025.
Zachary Winter
- Torrential thunderstorms caused severe flooding and a temporary closure of the Boca Raton Airport.
- West Palm Beach set a new rainfall record with 2.37 inches falling in a 24-hour period.
- A rare “considerable” flash flood warning was issued for Boca Raton due to the severity of the flooding.
The skies opened and bellowed for hours with torrential thunderstorms shutting down the Boca Raton Airport and setting a record in West Palm Beach where 2.37 inches of rain fell in a 24-hour period beginning early on Oct. 26.
Stoked by a gooey warm ribbon of air stalled over Central Florida and a knotty trough of energy traveling fast and high overhead, the storms that convened along Palm Beach County’s coast triggered flash-flood warnings that cautioned 3 to 5 inches of rain had fallen in Boca Raton in a single hour with up to 2 more inches expected before midnight approached.
The warning was later slapped with the “considerable” label — a rare escalation issued when flash flooding is unusually severe.
“There was just a very isolated bull’s-eye over Boca Raton. If you were in Miami, you wouldn’t even know it was raining,” said National Weather Service meteorologist George Rizzuto. “These weather features co-located and led to the pretty heavy showers last night.”
While the Boca Raton Airport temporarily closed “due to severe flooding,” it was reopened as of 7 a.m. on Oct. 27.
The National Weather Service in Miami said homes in Boca Raton near Southwest 18th Street and Southwest 8th Avenue had water completely covering their yards and “almost entering homes.” Cars were submerged up to the top of their wheel wells at Palmetto Park Road and State Road A1A.
“City crews and public safety teams are out this morning assessing storm impacts across the community,” the city of Boca Raton posted on social media. “Please use extra caution on the road, as there may be abandoned or stalled vehicles and areas of localized flooding.”
Record rainfall throughout Palm Beach County
South Florida Water Management District gauges measured 6.38 inches of rain in coastal Delray Beach. A gauge near South Military Trail in Boca Raton measured 6.74 inches.
Boynton Beach received 4.62 inches, a gauge at the West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach border measured 5.83 inches and 3.12 inches was measured in North Palm Beach, with 3.21 inches falling in Jupiter.
The record 2.37 inches at Palm Beach International Airport beat the previous record of 1.62 inches for the same day in 2012.
A report from the NWS shows that Deerfield Beach, near the border of Boca Raton, got 8.64 inches of rain. It lists Lantana has having received 6.6 inches of rain and an area of the town of Palm Beach got 6.06 inches.
South Florida is just two weeks into the dry season. The wet season officially runs May 15 through Oct. 15 for the seven counties overseen by the Miami NWS office. Those include Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Broward, Collier, Glades and Hendry.
Palm Beach County was considered in drought through much of the wet season, but was drought free as of Oct. 16, according to the U.S. Drought Monitory.
PBIA measured 31 inches of rain during the wet season, which was down 6.14 inches from normal. Palm Beach Gardens measured 31.36 inches, which was a deficit of 9 inches. About 38.7 inches of rain fell in the Greenacres and Lake Worth Beach area, which was about normal, according to the weather service.
Cold weather forecast for Florida, Palm Beach County
The Oct. 26 and Oct. 27 rainfall precedes two cold fronts that are forecast to sweep down the Florida peninsula on Oct. 29 with the first weaker front reinforced by a more robust push of Canadian air that will drop temperatures into the low 60s in coastal Palm Beach County on Halloween morning.
High temperatures on Oct. 30 are forecast to reach into the mid-70s. Those are forecast to barely clear 70 degrees on Oct. 31 with the official forecast for West Palm Beach reaching 73 degrees.
That means temperatures will be running near 10 degrees below normal. The average daytime high in West Palm Beach for Oct. 31 is 82 degrees with the normal overnight low dipping just to 69 degrees.
The last time it hit 65 degrees or below in West Palm Beach was on April 17.
“By Thursday, we will really start feeling the impacts,” said Zach Law, a meteorologist with the NWS in Melbourne about the cold front. “It’s going to be very comfortable.”
How will the colder temperatures affect iguanas?
The cold temperatures won’t do anything to cull the invasive green iguana herd that has proliferated in South Florida.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said iguanas can become either immobilized or sluggish when temperatures hit between 40 and 50 degrees. Longer cold snaps with overcast skies that prevent basking for warmth can be deadly as the paralyzed iguanas become easy prey to vultures, bobcats and coyotes.
Also, when the lizards are immobilized by the cold, their digestive systems sour and they die from bacterial infections. Iguanas that fall from trees onto streets are also in danger of becoming road kill.
The last significant die-off of iguanas caused by cold weather occurred during the winter of 2010 when between Jan. 2 and Jan. 13, West Palm Beach’s overnight lows dipped into the 30s nine times.
This week’s fronts are part of the seasonal change that sees the jet stream taking deeper forays into the subtropics during the winter months.
This time, the journey south will also protect Florida from Hurricane Melissa, which deepened to a Category 5 hurricane with 160 mph winds as of early Oct. 27.
It’s typically not until early November when overnight low temperatures in South Florida dip into the upper 60s. And the area must wait until the middle to latter part of November before daytime high temperatures peak in the upper 70s.
Melissa is the third Category 5 hurricane this season following Erin and Humberto. Only one other Atlantic hurricane season has had more than two Category 5 storms. That was 2005 with Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach.
Jamaica is bracing for Melissa, which will likely be the most powerful hurricane on record to hit the island, and is forecast to bring up to 40 inches of rain in some areas.
Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 4 storm with maximum wind speeds of 130 mph.
The National Hurricane Center warned of catastrophic and life-threatening landslides and flash flooding through Oct. 28 in Jamaica.
“Destructive winds, especially in the mountains, will begin by this evening, leading to extensive infrastructural damage, long-lasting power and communication outages, and isolated communities,” NHC forecasters said in their 5 a.m. update on Oct. 27.
Hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism: Subscribe today.
