You don’t need a hurricane, tropical storm or even depression to cause major flooding issues in a flat location. Just an old and dying frontal boundary which gets stuck over 85-degree waters.

While shear has exhausted any organisation potential, a large mass of deep convection stuck over Florida for days now has resulted in persistent tropical rains. The flood situation in and around the Tampa Bay area has been worsening. An open low pressure system has indeed formed out over the Gulf of Mexico which is keeping the convection going, driving persistent and often torrential rainfall into the central Gulf Coast of Florida but no development is likely, in fact the system will get lifted out in the next 36 hours as a trough digs down from Canada.

Visible satellite view as the sun came up this morning. Note the mass of cloud over Tampa.

This morning’s radar ain’t a pretty picture.

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This was the scene on the ground in Tampa this morning.

The below chart shows rain totals in excess of 15 inches just north of the Tampa Bay area in the last 14 days. Some reports suggest up to 33 inches within 10 days.

Relief comes in the next 36 hours as the low lifts up the East Coast and high pressure builds in.

 

See the video for today’s discussion.

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Tags: record florida rain, record rainfall, tampa bay rain storm, tampa flooding, tampa record rain