The Suncoast wakes up to a mostly sunny Saturday, but do not let that fool you. Scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms are back in the forecast, and the heat index will climb to near 100 degrees. If you have beach plans at Siesta Key or a morning boat run out of Venice, the early hours are your best bet. Winds are light at 5 to 10 knots with seas one foot or less through the morning, though conditions turn choppy in and near any thunderstorm.
Meanwhile, the Atlantic is in record-setting territory for the latest first hurricane of the season. We are past the middle of September and still waiting on that first named hurricane, which is unusual for this point in the year. The National Hurricane Center is monitoring a low-pressure system several hundred miles southwest of the Azores with an 80 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression over the next two to seven days. That system is far out in the eastern Atlantic and poses no threat to Florida, but it is a good reminder that hurricane season runs through the end of November.
Looking ahead, atmospheric moisture keeps increasing into early next week. Storms will fire up over the eastern part of the state in the morning and push west across the Suncoast by afternoon and early evening, meaning more frequent rain chances through midweek. Boaters should plan for calm mornings and watch the radar closely if you are out later in the day.
How do you plan around afternoon storms this time of year? Let us know in the comments.
