First Alert Weather Days are in effect for Tuesday and Wednesday across the entire Suncoast, and the setup is a little different than you might expect. The rainmaker is a front to our north sagging south and acting as a trough, pulling deep tropical moisture onshore over Sarasota, Manatee, and the surrounding counties. The Weather Prediction Center has placed the area under a Marginal Risk for flash flooding, meaning isolated flooding is possible, especially where the heaviest downpours set up.
Totals tell the story. Tuesday morning through Wednesday morning could bring 1 to 3 inches, with locally up to 5 inches in the strongest cells. Another 1 to 3 inches is possible Wednesday morning through Thursday morning. The good news, per First Alert Chief Meteorologist Bob Harrigan, is that it won’t rain all day. The catch is that when it does rain, it will be heavy, and the most likely windows are the afternoon and overnight hours.
Meanwhile, Tropical disturbance AL92 in the southwestern Gulf jumped from a 0% chance of development to 80% in just two days. It remains well away from us for now, but it could push additional moisture toward Florida later in the week, so it’s worth watching if you have weekend plans on the water. In the meantime, clear your storm drains, avoid driving through flooded roads, and keep the rain gear handy.
How do you handle heavy rain days here on the Suncoast? Let us know in the comments.
