Here's why the downpour in Fort Lauderdale just wouldn't stop
In some ways, it was the Florida Man of storms – not quite knowing when to say when.
Usually, thunderstorms fizzle out after they run out of rain or get cold air sucked in. They run out of gas. But not Wednesday, when the storm that hit Fort Lauderdale had a gas station nearby -- the warm and moisture-rich Gulf Stream.
The end result was more than 25 inches of rain drenching and flooding Fort Lauderdale in six to eight hours. That ranked among the top three in major U.S. cities over a 24-hour period, behind Hilo, Hawaii’s, 27 inches in 2000 and Port Arthur, Texas’s 26.5 inches in 2017, according to weather historian Chris Burt.
While it could happen in other places in coastal America, Florid...
