If you looked at the radar Monday and thought something looked off, you were right. Florida’s typical summertime thunderstorms, which usually drift east to west or west to east, moved in a north-to-south pattern across the Suncoast. Meteorologists say winds from the north-northwest steered the storms south-southeast, creating a radar pattern that looked like a row of falling dominoes. The cool air from collapsing storms acted as a miniature cold front, triggering new storms in the same areas and leading to heavy rainfall where storms repeatedly tracked.
For residents from Sarasota to Venice, this meant some neighborhoods got soaked while others remained dry. The pattern affected commutes, outdoor activities, and boaters on the water. “If thunder starts rumbling, it’s a good reminder that fish aren’t worth becoming the tallest object on the water,” our weather team notes. Tuesday will bring more scattered thunderstorms with highs in the low 90s, but the wettest days of the week are expected Thursday through Saturday. The weekend should still see sunshine between scattered afternoon storms, which is business as usual for Florida summers.
So keep that umbrella in the car and your radar app handy. Did this unusual storm pattern catch you off guard today? Let us know in the comments where you were when the rain started falling.
