Rain, Flooding Risk Continue in Parts of Florida Wednesday

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

September 25,2013; 9:12PM,EDT

 

 

Tropical moisture will continue to bring drenching rain and the risk of flooding to parts of Florida through the middle of the week.
While the amount of rain and the departure from normal for September varies greatly from place to place across Florida, enough rain will fall through Wednesday to spoil outdoor activities, cause travel delays and bring flooding in low-lying areas.

The rain can collect on streets and highways that drain poorly, as well as in some backyards.
The bulk of the rain will take aim over the peninsula, especially over the central counties during the day Wednesday. Some metro areas that are likely to pick up the most rain from the wet weather pattern include Tampa, Orlando, Sarasota and Melbourne.

The rain will tend to settle over the southern counties of the Peninsula Wednesday night.
A general 1 to 2 inches of rain will fall with a few locations picking up between 2 and 4 inches during Wednesday.
This will be on top of the 1 to 6 inches of rain that fell on the area since Sunday morning.
This image shows Doppler radar estimated 24-hour rainfall in inches ending at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013. The red areas indicate estimated rainfall close to 6 inches.
During the 72-hour period ending at 10:00 a.m. EDT, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013, Sarasota has received 6.38 inches of rain, Fort Myers has received 5.70 inches, with 4.01 inches falling on Venice and 3.38 inches drenching Tampa.
For people heading to Disney World, Universal Studios, Sea World and Bush Gardens, bring raingear or consider indoor activities at these parks through Wednesday.
While the weather will improve over the region Thursday and Friday, there can still be spotty drenching thunderstorm activity.
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East Coastal Storm Scenarios This Weekend
Both a weak tropical system will drift slowly eastward from the Gulf of Mexico to Atlantic waters this week. The system was crossing the Florida Peninsula Wednesday.
The system could spin up a larger, stronger storm off the southern Atlantic coast this weekend.