Rain chances will be going up this week

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - High pressure and light easterly winds will be an important part of the forecast today.

High pressure will tend to keep the chances of rain down today and the light easterly wind will allow the sea breeze to build early and travel well inland.

The forecast will call for a mostly sunny start with temperatures rapidly rising after dawn breaks. Just after lunch today a few showers will pop up near the coast. That will signal the start of the sea breeze. The storms will have a drift into the area east of the interstate in the later afternoon and evening. The rain chance today is about 40% to 50%.

By the end of the weekend, the rain chances will rise. The reason will be due to a wind shift off the Gulf that will pump moisture into the Suncoast. By Friday, the rain chance will be up to 90% with showers streaming in off the Gulf. Both Friday and Saturday will be the kind of days where storms pop up almost anytime and anywhere.

The tropics are active but with no Florida impact at this point. Danielle in the north Atlantic water will move farther north and die out with any impact to land. Earl is a tropical storm in the Atlantic about 350 miles east of St. Thomas. It will move north today and could have an impact on Bermuda before curving out into the open Atlantic waters. Another area off the coast of Africa may develop with time.

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