Gusty winds and a higher probability of rain will accompany us until the weekend

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) – High pressure in the northeast and a large low pressure system with Tropical Storm Alberto will bring us gusty winds from the southeast over the next few days. Moisture will be brought in from the Atlantic. Add to that a few hot days and the chance of rain will remain high through the weekend. Some drier air may try to move in today and reduce the chance of rain a bit, but the moisture will return Friday and linger through the weekend, with a chance of rain as high as 60% to 80%.

The tropics will remain active, but with minimal impacts on Florida through the weekend. A tropical wave will pass over us, with little impact on wind direction and rain chances. But there’s a good lesson to be learned from our first named storm of the season. Tropical Storm Alberto is a fairly large storm with impacts far from its center of circulation. In fact, tropical storm-force winds extend outward about 415 miles from the center. Heavy rain will cause flooding hundreds of miles from where it makes landfall. This season, it’s important to focus not on the storm’s exact track or even cone, but on its impacts, which may occur far from the system.

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