Florida's weather is gradually improving; rainfall totals

The wide low-pressure system combined with the cold front will continue to push east, and drier weather will continue to filter over Florida on Tuesday and for the rest of the week. The low-pressure system will continue to bring heavy rounds of rain across the Atlantic and the northeast through the middle of the week.

A few thunderstorms pushed through Central Florida by sunrise on Monday. But overall, the region has been on a much drier trend during the afternoon hours. A few lingering storms could still mainly affect the Florida Straits through Southeast Florida as the cold front moves away from the area. Tonight, there could still be a few lingering showers overnight into Tuesday morning, so the National Weather Service office in Miami continues the flood watch through Tuesday morning. With the ground saturated, any additional rainfall could flood the region.

Rainfall totals & forecast for South Florida

It continues to rain across South Florida, and the showers have slowed down in speed and are training one after the other. This means that the risk for flooding continues to be in effect after a very active early morning, where rainfall reached over 6 inches in some spots, like Sweetwater. Generally, the area between midnight and 1 p.m. received 1 to 3 inches of rain, but today's official rainfall will be published after the rain or day ends. The severe threat will diminish overnight as the storms push offshore over the Atlantic. Low temperatures will stay around the low 70s. On Tuesday afternoon, temperatures across southeast and southwest Florida will reach the mid- to upper 80s. Temperatures are forecast to continue climbing by the end of the week, and many areas will be hitting at least 90°.

Rainfall totals & forecast for Central Florida

Rainfall across Central Florida between midnight and 6 p.m. Monday ranged between 1 and 3 inches, but some very isolated spots reached close to 4 inches. As forecast, the weather improved across Central Florida earlier on Monday. Heavy rainfall did fall during the early morning hours on Monday, and some rotation was noted in some passing thunderstorms in the afternoon across the southern fringes of Central Florida just north of Lake Okeechobee. Luckily, all the storms continue to push offshore overnight, and the weather will continue to improve. There could still be a few scattered passing showers, mainly from the southwest to the northeast. There will be showers, and we’re not expecting thunderstorms to develop overnight. The weather will remain partly cloudy on Tuesday, with high temperatures between the low and mid-80s.

Rainfall totals & forecast for North Florida, Panhandle

Across northeast Florida, there will still be a few passing showers, reaching the Jacksonville area and perhaps through the Gainesville area between the late morning and early afternoon on Tuesday. Overall conditions should remain mostly quiet along the Panhandle with high temperatures around the low 80s. By the end of the afternoon, a few passing showers could be moving from west to east as the southern periphery of the low-pressure system pushes further away from the area.

Hot temperatures: high pressure builds by the end of the week and the weekend

At the end of the week, temperatures will rise across much of Florida. In the middle of the levels of the atmosphere, a high-pressure system that brings very hot temperatures across Texas for the beginning of the week, will slowly migrate to the east. This ridge will keep the rain and thunderstorm activity to a minimum as it brings sinking air. As air sinks, it also warms; therefore, we expect temperatures to be between 5 and 8 degrees above normal for this time of year. In the lower levels of the atmosphere, a high-pressure system located over the western Atlantic will continue to bring winds mainly from the east along Florida. This will keep the high risk for rip currents present throughout the week and possibly the weekend.

The next drought update will be released on Thursday morning. We expect some areas to show some improvement from their drought levels, others not so much.