When could Florida see heavy rain from tropical moisture? Here's the latest
TAMPA, Fla. - As the Tampa Bay area works to recover from Hurricane Helene, a tropical disturbance is pulling moisture into the Gulf of Mexico, and that's expected to lead to heavy rain – but how soon will that happen?
The National Hurricane Center is giving the area of low pressure a 30 percent chance of development over the next seven days.
FOX 13 Meteorologist Dave Osterberg says most models are showing a "disorganized rain event."
Timeline for rain
Osterberg says it will take a few days for tropical moisture, and the rain that will come with it, to reach Florida. As of Wednesday morning, all models show the moisture moving across the state late this weekend into early next week.
"There could be some slow development in the Gulf, and when I mean slow, we're talking about development maybe by Sunday or Monday," Osterberg said.
If the current rainfall forecast holds, much of the activity in Central and South Florida would occur "Sunday through about Tuesday or so," according to Osterberg.
The rainfall outlook for the next seven days shows several inches potentially falling in the Bay Area.
Osterberg emphasized that there are still more questions than answers when it comes to possible storm development and the exact timeline for rain.
Other tropical activity
Hurricane Kirk is gaining strength over the Atlantic Ocean. The NHC says the storm will move north with no impacts to the U.S.
Right behind Kirk is Tropical Storm Leslie, which developed on Wednesday and is expected to take a similar path to Kirk.
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