Front brings hail, rain, wind to Orlando area

ORLANDO, Fla. – A front brought big changes to the Central Florida forecast -- at least for a day.

"There is an area of low pressure associated with a front moving across the state, bringing rain and thunderstorms to north Florida, including Gainesville," News 6 meteorologist Troy Bridges said earlier in the day. "We saw a strong line of storms building in just northwest of Gainesville early Wednesday morning. That line will continue to weaken as it is closer to Central Florida. We will see rain, but not a big threat of strong storms as these weakening areas of rain move closer."

Expect a 50 percent coverage of rain off and on throughout the day.

Storms also dropped nickel-sized hail to Leesburg, and the city of Trenton, near Gainesville, had so much hail that it looked like snow on the ground.

Pebble-sized hail also fell in Lake and Orange counties and along Interstate 95 in Brevard County.

The National Weather Service in Melbourne warned residents in Cocoa to take cover due to hail up to 1-inch in size being reported near I-95 and SR 520. Dime and quarter sized hail was also reported in Satellite Beach and Indian Harbor Beach.

The high in Orlando will struggle to reach 72. The average high on this date is 79.

The overnight low will be in the mid-50s.

Highs will gradually warm starting Thursday, ranging from 79 to 85 by Sunday.

After Wednesday, the next chance of rain is Sunday, but there's only a 10 percent chance.

"There are bigger issues at the beaches for the next few days as an area of low pressure associated with this front continues to impact our area," Bridges said. "The rain will push out, but we will see a high chance for rip currents and high seas for boaters."

There are high surf and small craft advisories along Central Florida beaches.

The gale warning remains in effect from 10 a.m. Wednesday to 10 a.m. Thursday. The small craft advisory runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday.

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A gale warning means winds will be 34 to 47 knots for boaters. 

A small craft advisory means wind speeds of 20 to 33 knots are expected to produce hazardous conditions for small boats.

Northeast winds up to 30 mph will continue through Thursday morning. Waves offshore will be 12 to 15 feet.

Watch News 6 for more weather news.