Tropical Storm Alex heads toward Bermuda after leaving record rainfall in South Florida

Palm Beach County avoided any major consequences from a potential tropical cyclone that passed through Saturday despite record rainfall across South Florida.

That included 4.52 inches of rain registered at Palm Beach International Airport, breaking the previous high for June 4 of 2.62 inches set in 1978, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Sammy Hadi.

The situation was far wetter in south Palm Beach County. Boca Raton recorded 9.89 inches from midnight Friday to midnight Saturday, resulting in flooded streets and parking lots.

The heaviest rainfall was felt in Broward County, namely Hollywood, drenched by 14.86 inches, and Margate, which saw 14.79 inches. Seven cities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties collected at least 10 inches of rain.

Previously: Soggy system brought little wind, dumped 7-9 inches on parts of PBC

Much-hyped weather event left Palm Beach County soggy but unbruised

The four climate sites used by the NWS to gauge rainfall and located at airports in Naples, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach all set rain records for June 4, Hadi said.

"This is always a good reminder that with tropical systems, there's a lot more hazards than just wind," Hadi said Sunday. "There's storm surge, tornadoes and, in this case, the system was primarily a flooding threat. Flooding can be just as dangerous and damaging as wind. You see all the damaged vehicles in Miami. That's not cheap to fix."

Because most of the heavy rain bands sat further south in Miami-Dade and Broward, central and northern Palm Beach County avoided the heaviest rain.

While Palm Beach County was fortunate not to be impacted greatly by the storm, Bermuda may not be so lucky.

Tropical Storm Alex, the first named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, formed off the southeast coast early Sunday and appeared headed toward the small island of 64,000 residents after turning deadly in Cuba.

Alex is forecast to pass near or just north of Bermuda on Monday and tropical storm conditions are expected on the island late Sunday and Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

National Hurricane Center forecasters said at 5 p.m. that Alex's maximum sustained winds were near 65 mph and the storm was centered about 395 miles west of Bermuda. It was moving quickly to the east-northeast at 28 mph and little change in strength was expected overnight.

Forecasters said it could bring 2 to 3 inches of rain across Bermuda late Sunday and Monday.

The Associated Press reported that the storm killed three people in Cuba, damaged dozens of homes in Havana and cut off electricity in some areas, according to authorities.

The wet weather that swamped the Palm Beach County and the region Saturday was swapped out for drier air Sunday on the backside of the weather system as it pulled away, but moisture in the form of mainly afternoon thunderstorms is expected back Monday and will last through at least Friday, Hadi said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Jorge Milian is a journalist covering Boynton Beach and Lake Worth Beach at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jmilian@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at Caneswatch. Help support our work, subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tropical Storm Alex heads to Bermuda after drenching South Florida