ORLANDO, Fla. – Today marks the beginning of a three-day weekend for many of us in Central Florida. So the question on everyone’s mind remains - will there be rains and storms to battle through?
The answer in short is, yes! But let’s unravel that picture just a little bit so we can plan accordingly.
As the next storm system begins to wander down toward the state of Florida, moisture will naturally start to increase and so will the amount of us who sees rain during the afternoon and evening hours.
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It looks like, overall, Saturday will be a bit more spotty before Sunday and Monday really amps up the swath of rain we could be looking at midday.
Temperatures will also remain a bit more tame as a result of clouds and showers building in after 1 and 2 p.m. before we’re rocking with occasional thunder and lightning from 3 p.m. on to beyond sundown.
Our heat index is noticeably cooler as well, with a lot of us remaining below the triple-digit values. Where we see some additional sunshine, however, you combine your afternoon heating with the extra humidity floating in the air and you will likely break a quick sweat the moment you step outdoors.
If you’re planning on hitting the attractions or getting outdoors, it looks like your greatest rain chances will occur from mid-afternoon ‘til about 8 or 9 p.m. This is especially true the further east you go.
Our environmental winds — or winds well above us at ground level — that act to steer where our showers and isolated thunderstorms move are still coming in from our western shores. This will help bully everything that does develop today toward the eastern side of the peninsula.
If you look at a rainfall graphic for the last couple days, this has been the song and dance since this upper trough first reached south out of the northeast into our area earlier this week.
That could also encourage some of our storms to try and grow a little more menacing late in the day, closer to 5 and 6 p.m. The primary threats with these pockets of stronger cells will be gusty winds and a piling up of rain in a short period of time which could lead to hazardous travel conditions on the roads.
The beach isn’t a bad idea, to beat the heat albeit we’ve definitely seen our temperatures relax some when compared to earlier in the summer. Just keep in mind our greater rain chances and coverage will persist along the east coast of Florida. So maybe make plans to head toward the Gulf coast if you want a better shot of staying out there throughout the day.
The first half of your Saturday should start off pretty well before conditions go downhill a couple hours after lunch. Today we’ll see more isolated pockets of rain, thunder, and lightning. Then tomorrow, we’ll watch as the areas of rainfall expand. Tomorrow it does seem we favor the southern half of our viewing area more than the north.