After a mainly dry week to this point, we’re settling back into more typical summertime rainy season weather today across the area.

We’ve already had some rain in spots this morning, as slow-moving early morning downpours hung out by the coast in Lee an Charlotte Counties. That rain will give way to sunshine as we work through the mid-morning hours, allowing temperatures to soar into the 90s for most. That will bring the sea breeze in off the Gulf, which will help to ignite another round of downpours and storms by the mid-afternoon. Look for storms to begin close to US-41 and I-75, spreading to our inland communities from there. While severe storms aren’t expected, a few will be heavy packing torrential rain, frequent lightning and in a few cases strong winds. 

Similar conditions will persist through the weekend and into next week, with dry and sunny mornings giving way to afternoon downpours and thunderstorms. Highs will reach the lower 90s each day. 

Tracking the tropics:

 Lee reached category 5 intensity late Thursday, and is forecast to continue to intensify over the next 24 hours as it churns to the WNW in the south central tropical Atlantic. It is forecast to track to the north of the Caribbean this weekend, then turn to the north well before reaching the Bahamas or Florida early next week. As such, it will not bring any impacts to us here in SWFL. The long-range track remains uncertain, as Lee will track fairly close the US and Canadian coasts as it heads north next week. 

We are also tracking tropical storm Margot in the far eastern Atlantic. This storm is heading for the open Atlantic. While it will likley reach hurricane strength in the coming days, it is no threat to land.