ORLANDO, Fla. – We are in an unsettled pattern across Central Florida, with rain chances staying high the next several days.
Expect a 70% coverage of rain on Thursday and Friday, with coverage staying fairly high through the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
[TRENDING: Manatees dying at alarming rate | Is it legal to drive barefoot?]
Orlando will reach a high near 89 on Thursday. The average high on this date is 92. The record high in Orlando is 103, set in 1998.
Highs will be in the low 90s from Friday through Sunday.
Expect rain chances on the Fourth of July at 50%. We often see rain up to fireworks time at 9 p.m. There’s a chance we could see rain going through the 8 p.m. hour and then ending just in time for the fireworks. Stay tuned.
Orlando received 0.90 inches of rain Wednesday, putting the city’s yearly deficit at 5.17 inches.
Pinpointing the tropics
Tropical Storm Elsa has formed over the Atlantic and is on a projected path toward Florida, a portion of which is in the cone of uncertainty.
As of early Thursday, Elsa was 865 miles east-southeast of the Windward Islands and moving west near 25 mph. An even faster motion to the west-northwest is expected over the next 24 to 36 hours.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 40 mph with higher gusts. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 105 miles from the center.
Some additional strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days.
On the forecast track, the system will pass near or over portions of the Windward Islands or the southern Leeward Islands on Friday, move into the eastern Caribbean Sea late Friday and Friday night and move near the southern coast of Hispaniola on Saturday.
It’s unclear how Elsa will track after that, although Florida is in her sights -- as of now.
Use the form below to sign up for the ClickOrlando.com Pinpoint Weather Insider newsletter, sent every Thursday.