ORLANDO, Fla. – A large cluster of storms continues to travel across the Florida Panhandle, sparking several severe thunderstorm warnings Friday morning.
Some of that energy could hold together through mid-morning and potentially clip northwestern counties of Central Florida, including Marion, Lake and Sumter. For this reason, rain chances remain slightly higher at 40-50% into the afternoon for those counties.
Late Friday morning the Storm Prediction Center has issued a Marginal Risk (Level 1/5) for the risk of severe storms from the Gulf coast to metro Orlando. The main impacts within some of these storms will be strong wind gusts and small hail.
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Later in the day, added moisture and instability from this area will help fuel a few scattered showers along the sea breeze. Rain chances elsewhere in Central Florida remain low at 20-30%.
For those not seeing much rain, expect another very hot day, with highs returning to the mid-90s and feeling closer to 100 degrees.
Forecast models are in a bit of disagreement as we head into the weekend ahead of an approaching cold front. Some models show another ball of energy emerging from the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, increasing rain chances by late morning, while other models continue the typical sea breeze driven storms later in the day.
With this uncertainty, we will keep a 40-50% shot for rain and storms on Saturday. Along with more storms, highs will heat up even further -- into the upper 90s, with heat indices at 100-105 degrees.
By Sunday, a surface cold front will approach the area and looks to bring our best opportunity at widespread rainfall, with coverage at 70-80%. Don’t be surprised to see a few storms becoming strong to marginally severe. With additional rain and clouds, temperatures should remain cooler in the upper 80s.