The area of deep moisture that's forecast to dump as much as 10 inches of rain across portions of south Florida and the greater Tampa Bay region could develop into a tropical system.
The National Hurricane center on Tuesday said the system has a 20% chance of development over the next seven days after it crosses the state and enters the Atlantic.
"Environmental conditions are expected to be generally unfavorable," it wrote in a Tuesday advisory, "although some slow development is possible when the system is offshore of the U.S. Southeast coast. "
Portions of Lee and Collier counties were under a flood advisory Tuesday at 11:45 a.m. as the first round of showers moved in from the Gulf of Mexico late Monday night.
According to the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, the showers and thunderstorms will move north during the day Tuesday, with some of those storms producing heavy rainfall.
Meteorologist Megan Borowski, with the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network, says the rainfall should help alleviate some of the drought conditions that have persisted across the state.
"This should set the stage for scattered to numerous thunderstorms across our area through at least the end of the workweek," Borowski said. "These storms will be capable of producing heavy rain rates, and as storms continue to impact the same areas, it could overwhelm the environment and lead to flooding."
Projections call for isolated totals of more than a foot in some locations, with up to 15 inches across southwest Florida.
Some areas across the greater Tampa Bay region are forecast to receive close to 10 inches.
Information from the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network was used in this report.
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