Week Ahead · October 19, 2026

South Florida This Week: 5 Stories to Watch, October 19–25

By the SFL Today team · Published October 19, 2026 · South Florida, FL

Downtown Miami at sunset. This week brings the start of early voting, a historic court case, rough surf, and two football teams at opposite ends of the standings. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

South Florida news this week starts at the ballot box and does not slow down. Early voting opens Monday morning across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Florida officials are set to announce a state arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro. A coastal storm that could become Subtropical Storm Josephine will keep the Atlantic rough all week. And by the weekend, an undefeated Miami Hurricanes team and a winless Miami Dolphins team will both be chasing very different kinds of wins, while Fort Lauderdale counts down to the world’s largest in-water boat show. Here are the five stories to watch, October 19–25.

1. Early voting opens — and the mail-ballot deadline is Thursday

Early voting for the November 3 general election begins Monday, October 19 in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe counties, according to the USA Today / Florida Today network, which reports Miami-Dade early voting runs October 19 through November 1. Palm Beach County voters get the same window: the Palm Beach Daily News reports Palm Beach early voting runs through November 1, daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at 28 locations countywide, and registered voters can cast a ballot at any early voting site regardless of where they live in the county.

Two deadlines matter this week. Voters who want a vote-by-mail ballot sent to them must request one by 5 p.m. Thursday, October 22, the Palm Beach Daily News reports. Bring photo-and-signature identification to an early voting site; if your photo ID has no signature, bring a second ID that does. Mail ballots can be dropped off at any early voting location during early voting hours. Follow county-by-county updates in our SFL Today news feed.

2. Florida files a state arrest warrant for Raúl Castro

Florida has obtained a state arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro on a no-bond charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder stemming from the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown, according to Fox News, which obtained the warrant. FOX 13 reports the warrant was issued in Miami-Dade County and says a judge found probable cause to believe Castro conspired to commit first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of four men aboard the unarmed civilian aircraft.

The warrant names the four victims — Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña, and Armando Alejandre Jr. — and quotes the investigation’s finding of, in its words, a conspiracy to kill persons aboard Brothers to the Rescue aircraft, according to Fox News. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, whose office reopened the state investigation, is expected to announce the warrant Monday morning alongside Gov. Ron DeSantis. Castro, now 95, already faces a separate federal prosecution over the February 24, 1996 shootdown — a case that has reverberated for decades in South Florida’s Cuban-American community, including in Miami. Watch for reaction from exile leaders and the victims’ families as the state case is detailed this week.

3. A coastal storm — possibly Josephine — keeps the surf dangerous

The National Hurricane Center is tracking a storm-force, non-tropical low a few hundred miles off the Southeast coast that could gradually acquire subtropical characteristics over the Gulf Stream, according to the Naples Daily News, quoting the hurricane center’s outlook: formation chance near 0 percent through 48 hours and 40 percent — medium — through seven days, with a subtropical cyclone possible mid-to-late week before conditions turn unfavorable by the weekend. If it earns a name, it would be Josephine.

The name matters less than the surf. The Weather Channel reports high surf and rip currents are likely much of the week from Florida’s Atlantic beaches to New England, with the heaviest rain expected to stay offshore and only off-and-on coastal showers. For South Florida, that means a windy, mostly sunny work week on land — and a week to respect rip-current warnings at the beach. The Atlantic hurricane season runs through November 30.

4. Undefeated Canes host Pitt; winless Dolphins go to the Jets

Miami survived its rivalry test. The No. 3 Hurricanes beat Florida State 43–35 in double overtime on Saturday, October 17 at Hard Rock Stadium, keeping their undefeated season alive, according to USA Today, which detailed the controversial final sequence — a Florida State touchdown erased by a holding penalty, then a would-be score ruled an interception and upheld on review. Next up: Miami hosts No. 24 Pitt on Saturday, October 24 at Hard Rock Stadium, per the schedule published by the Palm Beach Post.

The Dolphins face the opposite math. Miami is 0–5 after losses to Las Vegas, San Francisco, Kansas City, Minnesota, and Cincinnati, and comes off its bye week to play the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, October 25 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS, according to Dolphins Wire, which calls the divisional game a good chance for Miami’s first win of the season. A Canes win Saturday and a Dolphins win Sunday would make it a rare perfect football weekend — for very different reasons.

5. Fort Lauderdale gets ready for Boat Show week

The docks go quiet-to-crazy this week as Fort Lauderdale prepares for the 67th annual Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, running Wednesday, October 28 through Sunday, November 1, according to Galati Yachts. By the Sea Realty describes it as the largest in-water boat show in the world, with more than 1,300 boats on display, approximately 1,000 exhibiting brands, and more than 100,000 attendees — nearly half from outside Florida.

Why watch it this week? Setup transforms six waterfront venues — including Bahia Mar, Las Olas Marina, and the Broward County Convention Center — and hotel, restaurant, and traffic pressure builds days before the first ticket is scanned, per the venue list in EntreeLink’s boat show guide. Tickets are sold online only, with no onsite box office, according to Galati Yachts. If you work or drive in Fort Lauderdale, plan for boat-show traffic starting this weekend.

What’s next

Early voting runs all week and through November 1 — find your site before the weekend crowds. The Castro warrant announcement Monday morning will set up the week’s court and community reaction. Beachgoers should check surf and rip-current advisories daily. And if you missed last week’s coverage, catch up with our October 16–18 weekend roundup and the Broward sheriff budget fight, explained. Our Wednesday deep dive lands in SFL Today Originals, with more from Palm Beach and across the region all week.