An area of low pressure over the Gulf of Mexico will pivot toward and over SWFL today — leaving us with a cloudy, windy, at times, rather stormy day today.
We’ll start the day with a dry, cloudy morning. Temperatures at sunrise will be in the lower 70s for most. The clouds will hang tough throughout the morning, and combined with a steady and robust easterly breeze at 10-20mph, temperatures will struggle to climb, only reaching high in the upper 70s and lower 80s by the afternoon.
Rain will look to develop and spread into the area during the late morning and early afternoon, and we’ll be tracking widespread rainfall and storms through the remainder of the day from there. While severe storms are unexpected, we are watching for localized flooding tonight. Developing low pressure over the Florida Straits will cut eastward toward the Atlantic tonight into Thursday– bringing locally heavy rain to parts of Collier County before spreading to the East Coast. While most of Southwest Florida will see rain totals in the 1″-3″ range or less, higher amounts will be possible in south and interior Collier, possibly leading to minor flooding.
The worst of the rain will depart to our east by sunrise Thursday. While a few areas of rain will linger across the area, expect a drier day overall with more sunshine. It will stay breezy, helping to keep temperatures in the lower 80s during the afternoon.
Drier air will surge into the area for Friday and the weekend, leaving us with more excellent overall conditions. Highs will be in the middle and lower 80s, with lower humidity and mainly dry, sunny afternoons.
Tracking the Tropics
The National Hurricane Center continues to monitor an area of low pressure in the south Caribbean Sea. It has a medium chance of becoming a tropical depression as it heads NE. Despite development, through Friday, it will produce heavy rain and flooding for parts of Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
The NHC will also be keeping an eye on the low moving away from Florida tomorrow and Friday. It is unlikely to become a tropical depression or tropical storm, but will bring heavy rain, gusty winds, and dangerous seas to parts of the eastern seaboard into the weekend.
Hurricane season officially ends at the end of the month.