It’s going to be another hot and sunny day for SWFL Thursday.

The pocket of dry air in the atmosphere that moved over us this weekend remains overhead today, helping to limit rain chances.  While humidity will be slightly higher it still will be nowhere near the awful humidity we’ve seen through much of the summer. Still, it will be a hot day, with highs in the middle and lower 90s and ‘feels like’ numbers over 100°. While a highly isolated brief shower can’t be ruled out by the coast this afternoon, just about everyone will remain dry throughout the day. 

Tropical moisture will begin to nose back into the area for Friday and the weekend, bringing back our more typical summertime thunderstorms during the afternoons. Temperatures will be close to average, with highs in the lower 90s and low in the middle 70s.

Tracking the tropics:

 Lee continues to gain strength in the deep tropical Atlantic. It will stay on a WNW course, sliding just south of the Caribbean by the weekend, likely as a major hurricane. Models are in good agreement that the storm will turn to the north from there, staying well east of Florida. Regardless, we’ll be watching it closely. 

Another disturbance near the Cabo Verde Islands has a high chance of development as it works to the WNW in the coming day as well. It will head for the central Atlantic though and is not a threat to the US. If it does take a name, it would be Margot. 

Lastly, the remnant low pressure area of once-hurricane Franklin is swirling in the north Atlantic. It will attempt to reorganize as it dives southward over the warmer waters between Portugal in the Azores in the far eastern side of the basin. Regardless it is no threat to land.