Heavy wind and rain batter South Florida, leading to tornado and flash flood warnings

Parts of South Florida were under both tornado and flash flood warnings Wednesday afternoon as heavy rain and wind continued to pound the region.

The National Weather Service Miami issued a tornado warning Wednesday afternoon for Hollywood, Dania Beach, and Hacienda Village until 4 p.m. Pembroke Pines and Miramar were under tornado warnings until 3:45 p.m.

Nova Southeastern University put out an alert on the Fort Lauderdale-Davie campus to take shelter immediately. An all clear was given about 4 p.m.

The National Weather Service Miami flood watches for coastal and metropolitan areas of Broward and Miami-Dade County will remain in effect until at least 8 p.m. today.

Much of the downpour will come over the course of Wednesday afternoon. Several Broward cities are under advisories for flash floods and localized flooding.

The weather service is warning that some areas in South Florida could see up to 4 more inches of rain.

The watches come after two days of heavy rain across the region, with some areas of Broward County reaching over 5 inches. The already-saturated areas from Monday and Tuesday’s rainfall could mean flooding for some areas, the weather service said.

The heaviest rain in the past 48 hours has been concentrated in Miami-Dade County, although several areas in Broward have received cumulative soakings of around 5 inches, according to NWS Miami.

The highest totals over the past 48 hours in Broward were recorded in Pembroke Pines, with 5.2 inches of rain, followed by Davie, with 4.9 inches, and Plantation, with 4.4 inches.

Meanwhile, in Miami, Cutler Ridge saw the highest total for the South Florida region overall, at over 6.3 inches.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning Wednesday afternoon for Fort Lauderdale, Sunrise, and Lauderhill until 6:45 p.m. Pembroke Pines, Hollywood and Miramar are under flash flood warnings until 4:15 p.m.

All of South Florida’s coast is at significant risk of high surf through Wednesday afternoon, a weather outlook said, meaning large waves that “would result in life-threatening swimming and surfing,” and significant beach erosion is possible.

The forecast calls for another 1 to 2 inches with showers and thunderstorms likely until early Thursday morning, National Weather Service Miami meteorologist George Rizzuto said.

The sun should start to creep back out starting Thursday, Rizzuto said, when the highest chances of rain will be in northern Broward County and Palm Beach County before drier air will move in Friday and Saturday.

The chance of showers and thunderstorms will drop to 50% Thursday night and Friday morning before dropping again to 20% Friday night through Saturday night, according to the forecast.