ORLANDO, Fla. – Central Florida is gearing up for another wave of afternoon thunderstorms on Friday, bringing the potential for heavy rainfall, lightning, and strong gusts. As the weekend progresses, these storm patterns will move further inland, accompanied by rising temperatures and humidity, setting the stage for a sweltering start to September.
Friday
A familiar late-August weather pattern prevails on Friday, characterized by light winds facilitating the movement of the Atlantic sea breeze inland.
This will ignite a 50-60% likelihood of scattered showers and thunderstorms from early to mid-afternoon, initially near the coast and gradually advancing toward the interior areas later in the day.
Some of these storms could persist past sunset, particularly around the Orlando metropolitan area. There is also a chance that a few storms might drift back towards the Volusia coastline this evening.
With a substantial amount of moisture present, some storms might bring intense rainfall, with localized areas receiving up to 2-3 inches of precipitation.
Before storms arrive, temperatures will climb into the low to mid-90s, with heat indices between 100 and 105 degrees.
Weekend
A subtle pattern change begins this weekend as high pressure builds across the Southeast.
That will allow onshore flow to become dominant, helping the Atlantic sea breeze push inland more quickly each afternoon.
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Storms will still develop daily, but the focus will shift more toward the interior, with storms likely moving quickly inland and potentially colliding with the Gulf breeze near Orlando or farther west.
Coastal communities will generally have lower rain chances.
Next Week
As the upper-level ridge strengthens, the weather will turn increasingly hot and humid heading into next week.
Afternoon storms will continue to provide some relief, but increasing heat and humidity could push heat indices toward 108 degrees in some spots.
So while the daily storms aren’t going away, September is likely to start feeling hotter across Central Florida.