Tropical Storm Alex forms in the Atlantic, one day after drenching South Florida

The low-pressure system that drenched South Florida with a deluge of rain Saturday, became Tropical Storm Alex early Sunday in the Atlantic Ocean, with its sights now set on Bermuda.

Alex, the Atlantic’s first named storm of 2022, is expected to move closest to Bermuda Monday.

By Sunday, Bermuda was under a tropical storm warning. Its maximum sustained winds were at 50 mph as of 8 a.m.

Alex is moving at a fast clip of 22 mph and on its current forecast track, the tropical storm is expected to pass near or just north of Bermuda on Monday.

[ MAP: Here’s the latest forecast path of Tropical Storm Alex ]

The tropical storm warning was lifted for South Florida earlier Saturday afternoon, and was discontinued for the entire east coast by 5 p.m., as the system’s maximum windspeed ticked upward to 45 mph.

South Florida appears to have fared relatively well, according to Randy Smith, spokesman for the South Florida Water Management District, considering some areas received double-digit rainfall totals.

And Sunday looks to get back to the normal summertime weather pattern with highs in the upper 80s or low 90s.

“[Sunday] is not going to be all that bad of a day,” said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Adam Douty. “You should start out with a good bit of sunshine, and then heading into the afternoon you’ll probably see some clouds popping up. You might get a few spotty thunderstorms across the interior, kind of like a typical day.

The swirl of stormy weather that became Alex began crossing South Florida Saturday morning, keeping most residents indoors and stranding drivers attempting to plow through flooded streets.

The storm continued to produce maximum winds of 40 mph, putting it just over the threshold for tropical storm strength, although its lack of a closed circulation prevented it from being designated one.

Many areas in Broward and Palm Beach counties got about 6 inches of rain, according to AccuWeather meteorologist Jake Sojda, with some areas in Fort Lauderdale getting between 8 and 9 inches. Most of the areas that reached double-digit rainfall totals were along the east coast in Miami-Dade County, Sojda said.

But flood waters made driving dangerous across South Florida Saturday, with high water slowing drivers on I-95 in Miami, stranding cars downtown and leading to warnings to stay off the road.

[ GET the latest updates on the tropical weather at SunSentinel.com/hurricane ]

The Miami Fire-Rescue Department said it was responding to “multiple calls of cars stuck in the water.” The Hallandale Beach Police Department urged residents to stay home until the danger passed.

“Severe flooding in Hallandale Beach!” the Hallandale Beach Police Department said in a 5:55 a.m. tweet “Residents if you can stay home please do not go out, most roadways are flooded! Do not risk your safety or your vehicles!”

[ RELATED: Hundreds of flights delayed or canceled as tropical system blankets Florida with rain ]

No additional tropical activity is expected in the Atlantic in the next five days.

The next named storm to form would be Bonnie.

David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@sunsentinel.com and 954-356-4535.