Here's what you need to know for Central Florida's weather for Thursday and the upcoming weekend:

  • Rain chances at 60% for Thursday
  • Torrential rain will continue to be a threat
  • The tropics remain quiet at this time

High pressure over the southern U.S. and another south of the Bahamas has our weather in a holding pattern. A trough of low pressure has dug out over the southeastern U.S., and continues to keep us in a west-southwest flow through early next week. Atmospheric moisture remains high, and as little impulses slide down over us, scattered showers and storms will fire up around midday, and wrap up before sunset. The biggest threats will be torrential rain and lightning, but we may see tiny hail and strong wind gusts, as these storms move west to east across the state.

Our sky will clear out tonight, exposing a full moon, which is actually the second full moon of July. Lows stay mild in the middle 70s. Afternoon rain chances through Sunday remain at 60 percent, with highs either side of 90, and lows in the mid-70s. We may finally shake our southwest flow by the middle of next week, and pull rain chances back to 40 percent by Tuesday & Wednesday. Highs will respond, and climb into the lower 90s.

View: StormTracker 13 Interactive Radar

Map: Cloud-to-Ground Lightning

A tropical wave over 300 miles south-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands has been labeled Invest-94. It’s still unorganized, and has a 30 percent chance of developing tropical characteristics over the next 5 days. It has plenty of ocean ahead, but will encounter some atmospheric dust, and wind shear to keep it in check. We also have an area of low pressure 250 miles east of the South Carolina coast, running a 10 percent chance of gaining tropical characteristics. This will have no impact on Florida. We’ll watch both systems, and have a tropical update at :51 past every hour.

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