Strong to Severe Thunderstorms Developing Across Parts of Florida & Louisiana

Special Marine Warnings Posted Along Coastal Areas for Waterspout Risk

10/03/24 2:16pm ET

New Orleans Regional Radar 2:08pm ETPhoto byNWS

Good afternoon everyone. As forecasted, we are begining to see tropical-like heavy showers and thunderstorms drifting northward from the Gulf of Mexico, into the Louisiana shoreline.

Look for heavy downpours, as well as gusty winds and rumbles of thunder across sections of the Bayou and the Mississippi Delta region; eventually drifting north into New Orleans and the Baton Rouge area.

Since these showers and thunderstorms are tropical in nature, isolated strong to severe storms are possible with short notice as they quickly intensify. While not everyone will see severe weather, some areas could see damaging winds, frequent lightning, hail, torrential rain, and the risk of a few waterspouts.

A good example of this is off the coast of the Florida Panhandle. Heavy thunderstorms just offshore of the Apalachicola area have had a history of strong winds, frequent lightning, heavy tropical rains, and a radar indicated risk for waterspouts. For this reason, the National Weather Service has issued special marine warnings for that area.

Pensacola Regional Radar 10/03/24 2:28pm ETPhoto byNWS

We're also seeing scattered heavy showers and storms pop up across interior sections of south and central Florida. These thunderstorms have blossomed over land, and now heading for areas such as Sarasota, Ft. Myers, and Clearwater. We are also seeing heavy showers and storms in the vicinity of the Orlando Metro area.

All of these thunderstorms, regardless of whether it's Louisiana or Florida, will be capable of isolated strong to severe weather; including the risk of waterspouts for those storms over open water. Due to the nature of our tropical energy source, we do not expect this action to completely wane overnight.

In fact, it is likely that strong to severe thunderstorms will become more numerous across south and central Florida as we get into the weekend and early next week. Because of this, concerns for flooding rains will be an issue across the major metropolitan areas of central & south Florida.

National Weather Service - Hydrologic Outlook - Miami, FL