First Alert Weather: Rain chances will remain high today

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Moisture will remain concentrated in the atmosphere again today. This will keep the air primed to produce showers and thunderstorms this afternoon.

The addition of atmospheric lift due to the trough which lingers on the east coast, and a little daytime heating, will bring an 80% to 90% chance for rain.

Because of the amount of moisture in the air, the rain could be heavy at times and lead to ponding of water on roads. This will be especially true of the late afternoon and evening storms which will take full advantage of the heat of the day.

Once the sunsets and the heating ends, we will watch the storms come to an end and the skies slowly clear. As the trough of low pressure in the Gulf is pushed west by high-pressure building in from the east, our winds will continue with a southeast-to-east flow.

Winds will be lighter today and storm motion slower. Again today, storms could produce heavy amounts of rain. While most of the rain will likely fall east of the interstate, there will be additional rain today near the coast as well.

This pattern will likely continue with rain and added cloud cover for several more days. By the time the weekend approaches, some slightly drier air will move in and reduce our rain chances. Next week will feature weather more typical of early October.

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