Today/Tonight: Rain increasing south to north throughout the day, with the best chance of rain south of Tampa. Best time to expect rain will be this afternoon and evening. Rain will be heavy at times and winds will be gusty. Rainfall 1-2″+ and winds SE-SW 15-25mph with higher gusts along the coast. The bulk of on the radar from this morning will move south of our area, but a few showers and storms will still roll through the area. OVerall, the rain chances for the Tampa area and points northward have decreased to 70%, with nearly 100% Sarasota County south and east.
There is a High Surf Advisory as winds surge from the SW later this evening. We will also have to watch for higher water levels 1-2′ including the beaches and those living along the Bay. High tide in St. Petersburg is near 6am tomorrow morning, but a surge in the wind after sunset tonight will bring the best chance for those higher water levels. NW winds Wednesday afternoon will also create high surf through Wednesday evening.
Much of the rain tapers off after 2 am followed by a cold front moving in from the NW on Wednesday morning. That front will bring a few more showers and even a thunderstorm through midday followed by partly cloudy skies.
Wednesday: Skies reamin partly cloudy under the NW flow off of the Gulf of Mexico with winds increasing from the NW. Temperatures will cool and the humidity will drop off as a fresh, fall air mass arrives. Temps will top out in the upper 70s with winds NW 15-20 mph highest in the afternoon.
Extended: Beautiful fall weather is here the for the rest of the workweek and into the weekend. Highs will top out in the low to mid 70s with lows it the low to mid 50s, some 40s north.
Source: WTSP.com Meteorologist Bobby Deskins
