RAIN & STORMS LIKELY AT TIMES TODAY; TRENDING A BIT DRIER THIS WEEKEND… Showers and thunderstorms will be numerous at times on this Wednesday. The greatest chance of rain and storms will happen along, south, and east of Interstate 65 in areas closer to where a tropical disturbance is passing today. Invest 91L, located in the north-central Gulf of Mexico, will continue to usher in large amounts of moisture today, paving the way for scattered to numerous showers and storms this afternoon into this evening. Significant local impacts are not expected from 91L, but we could have heavy rain at times today into tonight. High temperatures will be in the mid-80s today. Looking ahead, drier conditions are ahead for the weekend, although rain chances won’t be at zero. I’ve got all of your Wednesday morning forecast details below.
GREATEST RAIN CHANCE TODAY NEAR N.W. FLORIDA COAST… While the entire region has at least some chance of rain today, the greatest rain chances will happen in our northwest Florida counties (Escambia [FL], Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton). Rain amounts today could easily exceed 1″ in total. Lesser rain amounts are expected farther inland in south Alabama, however, there may be isolated higher rain totals in a few locales even farther inland.
RIP CURRENTS LIKELY AT BEACHES TODAY… In addition to the heavy rain at times, the one other hazard of concern associated with the passing tropical disturbance will be the increased threat of rip currents at all local beaches today, both in northwest Florida AND in Alabama. Yellow and red flags are likely to be flying at many of the local beaches, thus please use extreme caution when getting in the Gulf. We have lost way too many folks locally due to rip currents this year alone.
LOWER (NOT ZERO!) RAIN CHANCES THIS WEEKEND… Rain chances will decrease somewhat Friday before increasing ever so slightly on Saturday. I expect the vast majority of our local area to remain dry on Friday before a few showers and thunderstorms become possible on Saturday into Sunday. Most locales will remain completely dry throughout the weekend, but a “splash and dash” pop-up storm or two will be possible each day. High temperatures will continue to be near 90 each day.
INVEST 91L TO MOVE ACROSS FLORIDA PENINSULA… We continue to monitor the tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico (branded as Invest 91L). The system has a 50/50 shot of becoming a brief tropical storm in the Gulf before making landfall along the Florida coast, in the Panhandle east of Destin or in the Big Bend region. IF (and that is a big if!) the storm becomes a tropical storm, local impacts in the Panhandle and Big Bend region are expected to be rather limited. Gusty winds will be possible near the immediate coast in those zones with heavy rain and flash flooding being concerns. A marginal tornado risk may set up, although even that is questionable. No significant local impacts are expected due to 91L in south Alabama or northwest Florida.
HURRICANE LARRY PROMPTS TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR BERMUDA… While significant local impacts are not expected in any part of the USA due to Hurricane Larry, the storm has prompted a Tropical Storm Watch this morning for Bermuda. Larry will likely be a glancing blow to Bermuda with tropical storm force (and not hurricane force) winds being possible. High waves and rip currents will be possible this weekend from Florida to Maine along the Atlantic coast of the U.S. into the weekend as Larry passes hundreds of miles to the east.
APP… If you haven’t already downloaded the RedZone Weather app, now is a great time to do that. redzoneweather.com/app is the link to the free download. Once you have the RZW app installed on your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab to turn on the specific notifications you’d like to receive. All notifications are handcrafted by me. No automation and we promise not to bug you!
See all the details in your Wednesday morning #rzw forecast video. Have a great day!
