WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — South Florida will be entering a much wetter weather pattern, with multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms expected through the weekend that could produce heavy rainfall and localized flooding.
A stalled front across North Florida, combined with an upper-level disturbance moving overhead, will fuel widespread showers and thunderstorms beginning today. Unlike a typical summer pattern driven by sea breeze collisions, today’s storms will be steered by smaller disturbances in the atmosphere and leftover storm boundaries, making it difficult to pinpoint exactly where the heaviest rain will fall.
The greatest concern is heavy rainfall. Any thunderstorm will be capable of dropping 1 to 3 inches of rain in a short period, with isolated higher amounts where storms repeatedly move over the same location. A Marginal Risk, or Level 1 out of 4, for excessive rainfall remains in effect through at least Friday for Okeechobee, Indian River and St. Lucie counties, where localized flooding is most likely. While flooding is not expected to be widespread, multiple rounds of rain over the next several days could lead to water collecting on roads and in other poor-drainage areas.
A few storms could also become strong, particularly north of Lake Okeechobee. The strongest storms may produce wind gusts between 50 and 55 mph, frequent cloud-to-ground lightning and torrential downpours…