Tropical Storm Eta Swamps Southern Florida After Rare November Landfall

Following a previously deadly stop in Central America, Eta's zig-zagging journey from Nicaragua through Cuba eventually brought the former hurricane to the coast of southern Florida on Sunday night, delivering the state's first tropical hit of the season.

With wind-whipped downpours starting on Sunday afternoon, Eta served a reminder that the calendar flip to November doesn't necessarily mean that hurricane season is over.

The reach of Eta's outer bands began lashing Miami on Saturday night with whipping winds shortly after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for eight counties in southern Florida.

Across Tampa Bay, those wind gusts have been 30 to 40 mph throughout Monday morning, with a strong chance to strengthen throughout the day. Heavy winds also forced the closure of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and Sarasota County schools on Monday, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The center of Eta emerged over the Florida Straits by Sunday afternoon, just hours after making landfall on the southern side of Cuba as a strong tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. This was Eta's second landfall, the first occurring last week when it slammed into Nicaragua as a powerful Category 4 hurricane. A third landfall occurred Sunday night over the Florida Keys.

Sunday at 11 p.m. EST, Eta made history once again when it made landfall on Lower Matecumbe Key, Florida, as a tropical storm. Not only did the state of Florida see its first tropical landfall this season, but also saw first landfall of a tropical system in Florida during November in 22 years.

As of Monday morning, over a foot of rain had accumulated in numerous areas throughout the southern portion of the Sunshine State, most heavily in Miramar, where over 15" inches had gathered in rain gauges.

A hurricane warning went into effect for the Florida Keys on Sunday morning and a hurricane watch went into effect for the Florida coast from Deerfield Beach to Bonita Beach.

As of 7 a.m. EST Monday, the storm was located about 80 miles northwest of Key West, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, moving westward at 13 mph.

COVID-19 was also on the mind of Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales, who spoke with AccuWeather National Reporter Emmy Victor.

"COVID is layering over your normal hurricane plans," he told Victor.

AccuWeather National Reporter Jonathan Petramala spoke with a handful of residents of Doral, Florida, who were preparing for the storm. With masks on, they took to filling sandbags to keep any oncoming storm surge at bay. One resident told Petramala that they were more concerned about the water, not the winds, that Eta could bring.

"It's the water, it's not the wind. We're used to bad winds," Doral resident Menelao Mora told Petramala. "They're talking about 8 to 10 inches, so it should be pretty bad."

The current position of Eta's eye and the rain potential to areas affected by the storm. (Image credit: NOAA/National Hurricane Center).

Some areas in southern Florida could a foot of rain in the coming days with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 12 inches.

"Most of the time, like the heavy rains and so forth will do the most damage on the coastal areas, on the east coast, especially the way it's going to come in, the way it's curving coming in," Miami-Dade Director of Emergency Management Frank Rollason told Victor. "Those bands will come right up against the beach."

In Miami Beach, crews began servicing storm drains on Saturday to prepare for the oncoming rain and storm surge.

"One of the things we obviously try to make sure [of] is that our stormwater system is at least as capable as possible to address the water," Morales said.

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