First Alert Weather: Rain chances increase for the Suncoast

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Moisture is returning to the Suncoast, and a frontal boundary will sag south into our area and stall over the weekend.

The combination of these factors will increase the chances of rain for the area. This is good news as the drought index Thursday showed an expanding area of drought on the Suncoast, now 18.4 inches below the normal rainfall amounts since the start of the year.

It is difficult to quickly make up for a deficit of that size without several large rain events, so steady and persistent rain chances are needed. We are in an El Nino year, and usually, that means a wet winter for us. Let’s hope we get some rain before the start of next year’s fire season.

Over the weekend, Hurricane Lee will make landfall. It will spread its rains across the northeast, and gusty winds and power outages are likely. Tropical storm watches have been replaced by warnings from Westport, Massachusetts, to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island in Canada.

Copyright 2023 WWSB. All rights reserved.