Eta dumped up to 14 inches of rain.
In a matter of hours, Tropical Storm Eta soaked portions of South Florida with up to 14 inches rain, possibly a once-in-a-lifetime deluge.
Broward County was hit hardest. Some areas experienced four times the amount of rain they would normally see in an entire month, according to the National Weather Service.
Miramar received close to 14 inches over 24 hours, followed by 13 inches in parts of Weston and Pembroke Pines.
The South Florida Water Management District reported heavy rainfall elsewhere aswell:
Deerfield Beach, 4.33 inches.
Fort Lauderdale, 6.55 inches. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, 5.93 inches. Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, 4.38 inches. Lauderdale Lakes, 4.69 inches. Pompano Beach, 4.15 inches. Sunrise, 5.24 inches.
Tamarac, 4.12 inches. Bro ward County normally receives about 3.24 inches of rain for all of November, said Paxton Fell, a meteorologist with National Weather Service in Miami.
“We exceeded our normal value within six hours,” Fell said. “Even less in some locations.”
Robert Moll ed a, another Weather Service meteorologist, said the rainfall might have amounted to a once-in-100-years event.
Molleda said he couldn’t recall a system that dumped so much rain over such a large area in such a short period of time, although he said Tropical Storm Isaac in 2012 drenched Palm Beach County and northern Broward with 10 to 18 inches of rain.
Miami-Dade County also got hit hard Sunday. Parts of Biscayne Park and North Miami received about 7 inches of rain, while parts of Kendall were hit with about6 inches. Overall, the county saw 4 to 8 inches of rain, compared with normal rainfall of 3.27 inches for all of November.
Despite lower rainfall compared with Broward, flooding has been extensive in Miami-Dade because above-average rainfall saturated the ground in October, Fell said.
Roof runoff in urban areas and coastal flooding left some parts of the county resembling a swimming pool, she said .“Their ground can’t handle that much rain.”
Palm Beach County, meanwhile, emerged relatively unscathed compared to Broward and Miami-Dade.
About 3 to 7 inches of rain fell in Palm Beach County over 24 hours, Fell said. Boynton Beach, 1.81 inches.
Boca Raton, 6.5 inches.
Delray Beach, 2.64 inches. Lake Worth Beach, 3.51 inches. Palm Beach International Airport, 2.28 inches.
West Palm Beach, 4.2 inches.
The average amount of rainfall for all of November is 4.75 inches in Palm Beach County, Fell said.
“Palm Beach was spared a little bit,” she said. “Their flooding is not as widespread as what was seen in Broward and Miami-Dade.”
A tropical system like Eta hitting South Florida at this time of year is “not very common at all,” Fell said. However, it also shouldn’t come as a shock.
“It’s important to keep in mind that hurricane season goes out to Nov .30 for areas on ,” she said. “It’s important for people not to let their guard down because anything can happen.”