Rain deluge swamps Fort Lauderdale — and much of South Florida. Did it break records?

Grethel Aguila
·2 min read
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2023 is officially Fort Lauderdale’s wettest year to date — shattering a record set more than seven decades ago.

After torrential downpours and flooding slammed South Florida last week, Fort Lauderdale surpassed more than 108 inches of rain in 2023, according Sammy Hadi, a meteorological the National Weather Service in Miami. That’s almost more than double the city’s usually annual average of more than 60 inches.

READ MORE: No-name storm swamps South Florida with flooding, high winds. Recovery is under way

And there’s still a month-and-a-half until the year ends. The rain to date topped that of 1947, when the city, Hadi added, saw more than 102 inches of rain.

How wet was it?

Last week’s brutal rains came after a no-name storm swept South Florida over two days and dumped up to 14 inches of rain in some spots. The damage, according to the National Hurricane Center, was enough to rival some tropical storms that have swept the region in recent years.

The ibis take advantage of the flooding at Lewis Landing Park in the Tarpon River neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. There was standing water in the small park as well as scattered road ponding and tree damage Thursday morning.
The ibis take advantage of the flooding at Lewis Landing Park in the Tarpon River neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. There was standing water in the small park as well as scattered road ponding and tree damage Thursday morning.

In April, “unprecedented” rainfall battered Fort Lauderdale, with flooding leaving behind about $2 million in damage. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport closed, major roads were impassible as well as cars and homes were swamped by the rapidly rising water.

Stranahan High School student, Erick Martinez, 16, and his dog, Estrella, ride a kayak down a flooded street in his Edgewood neighborhood on Thursday, April 13, 2023, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. A torrential downpour severely flooded streets partially submerging houses and cars across South Florida.
Stranahan High School student, Erick Martinez, 16, and his dog, Estrella, ride a kayak down a flooded street in his Edgewood neighborhood on Thursday, April 13, 2023, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. A torrential downpour severely flooded streets partially submerging houses and cars across South Florida.

Both floods may have helped break another record, too. According to NBC 6 meteorologist Steve MacLaughlin, Fort Lauderdale is now the wettest city in the country — at least so far.

“The flooding in South Florida had four components: a climate change-fueled rainbomb, climate change-fueled sea-level rise, King Tide-fueled sea-level rise, a strong on-shore wind, just like on Florida’s west coast last year with Ian!” MacLaughlin said on X, formerly known as Twitter.