FORECAST:
Keep the rain gear close; deep tropical moisture surging north from the western Caribbean will keep rain chances and humidity high in SWFL for the work week.
We'll kick off your Wednesday in the mid-70s with a mostly cloudy sky. Rain chances will increase from 30% Wednesday morning to 80% in the afternoon. Temperatures will max out in the upper 80s but, because of the humidity, feel more like the mid to upper 90s.
Rain chances will stay high through the work week and into the weekend.
While it may not be ideal for outdoor plans, SWFL needs rainfall. Naples is in deficit by 23.82" since January 1. Fort Myers is still down by more than a foot of rain and Punta is in deficit by approximately 8" of rainfall.
It's not normal to have drought linger this far into rainy season. The last time this happened was in 2007. We're only three weeks away from the typical start of "dry season" here in SWFL, and we have A LOT of catching up to do. #flwx pic.twitter.com/QeQ90Lj0gt
— Katie Walls (@KatieWallsTV) September 26, 2023
TROPICS
There are two areas we are watching in the tropics. However, none of them pose a threat to us in Southwest Florida.
PHILLIPE:
Tropical Storm Philippe, the 17th storm this season, developed Saturday and continues to move through the Central Atlantic with wind speeds up to 45 mph. The storm is disorganized and battling dry air and strong wind shear. It is not expected to overcome the shear, and is forecast to weaken to a depression then a remnant low over the weekend.
As a remnant low, it could bring squally weather to the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic over the weekend. It does not pose a threat to the contiguous U.S. at this time.
OTHER AREA TO WATCH:
EASTERN TROPICAL ATLANTIC
Showers and thunderstorms have increased in association with a tropical wave located several hundred miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. Environmental conditions are forecast to be conducive for additional development, and a tropical depression is expected to form in in the next day or two as the system moves west-northwestward across the central tropical Atlantic.
Formation chance through 48 hours is medium near 80 percent.
Formation chance through 7 days is high at 90 percent.
FOX 4 EVENING METEOROLOGIST KATIE WALLS
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