Bob Harrigan

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - With limited moisture and high pressure we can count on only a few isolated showers once again on Friday. The rain chance is only 10% with mostly sunny skies expected throughout the day. Winds will be out of the east southeast during much of the day with a SW wind moving in as the sea breeze develops. The high along the coast will be in the mid 80s an low 90's inland.

Temperatures will be running a few degrees above average over the next 3 days. We will see humid conditions as well with the dew point temperatures not dropping below 70 degrees. This means our overnight lows will be in the low to mid 70s to start each morning.

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - It's feeling hot..hot...hot... due to high humidity and high pressure keeping skies generally sunny allowing temperatures to soar inland. The highs for areas east of I-75 today were into the mid to upper 90s. Along the coast temperatures warmed into the mid 80s but with the higher humidity moving in on a SW wind it made it feel like 90 degrees even near the water. That will chance a little bit over the weekend as a weak cold front moves through late Friday into early Saturday morning.

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - The strong cold front that caused considerable damage to N. Florida on Friday is going to weaken considerably as it moves through our area. It will bring a few passing showers on Saturday morning with a very small chance of an isolated thundershower or two. The rain chance is only at 20% during the morning hours. The front should clear our area by 9 a.m. or so. Don't look for temperatures to drop all that much behind the front but you will notice the humidity coming down to more comfortable levels beginning Saturday evening and continuing through Sunday.

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - A rare sighting of the Northern Lights seen as far south as SW Florida. A powerful sunspot rated G5 or Coronal Mass Ejection has occurred over the past few days and will be sending 6 other CME's our way through the weekend. The size of the sunspot is 15 times larger than earth. This is the strongest geomagnetic storm we have seen since 2003!

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - A good chance for some much needed rain is heading our way but it could also bring a few thunderstorms along with this energy. We will see a good chance for showers and a few scattered thunderstorms and one or two of those storms could become severe with strong gusty winds. The chances are small at this point with a marginal chance for strong to severe weather on Wednesday. The Storm Prediction Center has put us under the lowest level 1 for severe weather on Wednesday.

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - A trough has pushed south into Charlotte County this evening. This will bring a chance for a few showers overnight mainly near the front the rain chance is only at 30%. On Thursday look for some clouds south of Venice along with a 20% chance for a few showers along the old frontal boundary. Otherwise we will see partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies throughout the day with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s near the coast and low 90s inland. The dew points or humidity will stay high making it feel hotter.

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - We have another system which could bring us some much needed rainfall over the weekend. Right now it looks like we will see showers and a few thunderstorms scattered about mainly on Sunday. There is also a small chance for a few showers on Saturday evening after 8 p.m. or so. There is a First Alert Weather Day for Sunday with level green, meaning there will be some disruption due to the weather but it is not looking like it will be too terrible at this time.

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - The chance for a couple of severe storms on Wednesday has gone up. There will be enough instability and twist in the atmosphere that we also have a small chance for an isolated tornado as these systems move through our area. We will have two rounds of showers and storms that are possible. We will see some showers and storms after 2 am and then on again and off again through the early afternoon.

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Saturday is looking good but hot. We will see mostly sunny skies with highs in the upper 80s near the coast and low 90s inland with heat indices in the mid 90s some.