ORLANDO, Fla. – Following severe weather on Monday, storms are set to start dying down through through Tuesday and into Wednesday.
An unsettled weather pattern kicked off Monday afternoon, bringing more widespread rain, which is needed with most of Central Florida in a severe drought.
The Storm Prediction Center released the updated convective outlook just before noon, and it showed central and southern Osceola County, as well as southern Brevard County, highlighted in yellow, indicating a slight risk for severe storms to develop Monday afternoon.
Widespread severe weather was not expected and could be limited if the rain starts earlier in the day. The earlier rainfall would limit how much daytime heating we could get, resulting in less instability, meaning less time that severe storms have a chance to develop.
One or two storms could be strong or possibly turn severe late Monday afternoon and through the evening commute.
HAZARDS
- Periods of heavy rainfall: 1-3 inches
- Frequent lightning
- Damaging wind gusts 40-60 mph
- Hail up to quarter-size
We break down the rain coverage and timeline below for a better look at what to plan for.
RAIN TIMELINE
Showers picked up Monday afternoon around 2 p.m., turning more widespread by 4 p.m. and into the evening.
Keep in mind that the potential to see severe weather is most likely to happen from southern Volusia County, back into Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Brevard counties, with only a little portion of southern Lake County and very little of Sumter County included.
Areas to the north and west will still get the rain, but most will be heavy rainmakers as they pass by, not reaching the severe threshold.
As the evening commute picks up pace, so does the rain coverage and intensity.
Rainfall rates in stronger storms could bring 1-3 inches of water rather quickly.
This will impact the evening commute with standing water along the roadways and possible temporary flooding in low-lying areas.
Visibility could also be heavily reduced, so please stay safe by turning on your headlights so others can see you, remain a safe distance between other vehicles and plan on extra time to get to your destination at a slower speed.
Most of the rain will begin to clear out closer to 10 p.m. Areas around I-75 will be mainly dry under cloudy skies with clearing expected to continue toward the east. A few showers could linger along the coast for a few hours beyond midnight before clearing out.
Tuesday looks to start off dry, but with heating of the day, thunderstorms will be likely by the afternoon and evening.
We have a 40% chance of rain Tuesday and a high of 81 in Orlando. Some of the showers will start as early as noon along the east coast, but as the day wears on, the focus for the showers will shift west to Lake, Marion and Sumter counties.
Along a stalled front, disturbances will continue to move through Central Florida through the end of workweek. Rain chances will be at 70% Wednesday, with our best chance of showers starting between about 1 - 4 p.m. in the Orlando Metro Area.
Each afternoon there is the potential to see an isolated storm or two turn severe with the main hazards being torrential rain, frequent lightning, damaging wind gusts and possibly hail.