ORLANDO, Fla. – As more storms continue to drench Central Florida over the next few days, all eyes are on the tropics.
“Get ready for another round of widespread storms Monday afternoon in the Orlando area,” News 6 meteorologist Candace Campos said. “Some could become strong, with heavy rain and frequent lightning.”
Orlando will reach a high in the low 90s, with rain chances at 70-80%
Meanwhile, an area of low pressure off the coast of Mississippi will continue to feed deep moisture from the Gulf across Central Florida. Hurricane officials say the area has a 40% chance of further development over the next five days. The next named storm will be called Fay.
“This will allow an early start to our storm chances, with storms developing across our western zones by midday and tracking toward the east coast by mid- to late afternoon,” Campos said.
Models show the potential for some localized heavy rainfall amounts along the coastal counties where a few spots may reach 2-4 inches.
Boaters on inland lakes and intracoastal and nearshore waters should be on the lookout for storms approaching from the west through the afternoon.
Along the beaches, the threat for lightning will increase into the afternoon, along with a moderate risk of rip currents.
For the rest of the week, storm coverage will remain near to above normal, with a few strong storms expected each day, especially toward the East Coast.
Frequent lightning strikes, strong winds gusts up to 50 mph and locally heavy rainfall of 2-3 inches will continue to be the main threats.
Tracking the tropics
There are three areas to watch:
- Tropical Storm Edouard is expected to maintain tropical storm strength as it moves into the northern Atlantic, but it will not impact any land areas.
- As mentioned above, an area of low pressure off the coast of Mississippi has a 40% chance of development over the next five days as it crosses the Southeast and reemerges into the Atlantic.
- A tropical wave over the Atlantic has a 10% chance of potential development as it approaches the eastern Caribbean.