Suncoast Stormwatch

As another week draws to a close, the weather in West Central Florida stays the same.

If you're tired of the heat and humidity, I have bad news: You're going to have to deal with it a bit longer. This week, daytime temperatures will be in the mid 90s.
 
Daily rain chances could cool the air down slightly (or just make it feel worse). Rain chances will be highest tomorrow and Monday.

West Central Florida is going to be wet this week. Rain will advect into the area, bringing with it POPS between 20 and 50 percent all week.
 
Daytime temperatures will be in the low-mid 90s, while at night, we'll see temperatures in the low 70s.

Other than the rain, there's not much else to be concerned about weather-wise this week. However, there is a tropical wave that the NHC is watching. Right now, there is around a 50% chance of something forming from it. Within the next day or so, it could develop into a depression or possibly a tropical storm

Now that NOAA (the National Hurricane Center, actually) has released their outlook for the upcoming hurricane season, we can see that pretty much all of the predictions point to an above-average season.

Experts have noticed that conditions are similar to 2005, when we had 28 named storms and went into the Greek alphabet. Water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean are actually warmer now for this time of the year than they were in 2005, and if that is an indication of what's to come, we're in for a lot of trouble.

Despite all of the forecasts saying there is going to be an above average season, I have some advice from a very popular, former Weather Channel Tropical Weather Expert
(Dr. Steve Lyons, now with NWS San Angelo): Don't be scared, just get prepared.

The forecast for this week points to more rain in our future. 

Daytime temperatures will be in the high 80s and low 90s, while night-time temps will be in the low to mid 70s.  

With the start of hurricane season 2010 just over a week away, I have to ask: are you prepared? Do you have enough food, water, medicine, and whatever else you might need for at least three days after a hurricane hits? Do you know if you live in an evacuation zone?

If not, here is a great guide for hurricane preparedness. Also, this week is National Hurricane Preparedness Week. Prepare now ahead of time so you're not rushing around at the last minute trying to get your supplies together.

Here is a list of this year's hurricane names in the Atlantic:

Alex
Bonnie
Colin
Danielle
Earl
Fiona
Gaston
Hermine
Igor
Julia
Karl
Lisa
Matthew
Nicole
Otto
Paula
Richard
Shary
Tomas
Virginie
Walter

Daytime temperatures will be in the upper 80s and low 90s this week, and there will be scattered thunderstorms across the area from Tuesday to Thursday. 

A change in the weather pattern is coming next week. Daytime temperatures will still be in the mid to high 80s and low 90s, but we will have a substantial chance for rain each day.

Scattered thunderstorms will occur and advect over the area each day as a decaying frontal boundary stalls out over the state mid-week.

The models are uncertain as far as rain chances go towards the end of the week, but as of now, we'll probably get a decent amount of rain for next weekend.  

After a week of seasonably warm weather, we're going to have to expect more of the same for next week.  

Daytime temperatures next week will be in the high 80s and low 90s. Night-time temps will be the high 60s. Conditions will be partly cloudy most days, with no rain in the forecast. 

Since there have been so many deadly tornadoes in the news lately, (Links: 1, 2 - this one has info on the historic Tennessee flooding as well, 3), I decided to post this link to statistics about the average number of tornadoes to occur near Tampa  per month.

After dealing with the low to mid 90s we've had this past weekend, the temperature will cool down slightly. For the rest of this week, we can expect daytime temps in the high 80s, and night-time temps in the mid 60s.

Now, to review NOAA's 2010 Hurricane Awareness our in Sarasota. The Hurricane Hunter aircraft "Kermit" was on display for people to tour, along with flight engineers and other crew members. The local NWS office had several employees on hand to help out, and answer questions.

The Director of the National Hurricane Center, Bill Read, was there as well.

I'd like to look back and talk about yesterday's severe weather, but the NWS is still in the process of surveying the damage, so I'll probably update mid-week as the data becomes available.
 
In the mean time, there is a Tornado Watch in effect until 8pm tonight for portions of West Central Florida. The rain is not expected to start until late afternoon, and it is possible that we could have some severe weather.

Beyond today, the weather looks pretty nice. Partly cloudy conditions can be expected, with a possible chance of rain on Friday. Daytime temperatures will be in the 80s, and night-time temps will be in the 60s.

If you came to Florida because of the great weather, you came to the right place.

Daytime temperatures will be in the high 70s to the mid 80s. Night-time temps will dip into the low 60s. 

I've had this site for a while now, and wanted to share it everyone:

 Forecastadvisor.com.

You type in your zip code, and they give you the forecast accuracy for your area. They compare the different forecasting companies, like The Weather Channel, Accuweather, Intellicast, and the National Weather Service (NOT a "company").