Finally, the wet pattern we’ve seen lately will change the next couple days.
As the low pressure pulls away we will still see some lingering showers, with the best chance from the Bay northward into Tuesday. But the rain chance will be much lower than recently, dropping to 40 percent.
Otherwise, you can expect partly cloudy to partly sunny skies with morning lows in the mid to upper 70s. Afternoon highs will be warmer than we’ve seen in a while, getting into the upper 80s.
Even drier air will come in for Wednesday into Thursday with much lower rain chances than we have seen in a while.
After a day packed with heavy rain, Governor Rick Scott visited the Bay area to tour the areas hit the hardest with flooding.
Scott took a flood tour with Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco on Monday, telling the media that the state is ready to help make sure everyone is safe.
- Jump to: Latest Updates ▼
Another low moving by to the north will trigger another reverse pattern this weekend with an onshore flow and increasing rain chances again. However, there are no signs of the soggy pattern again. Rain chances will be about 40 percent this weekend.
But, even with rain chances decreasing, it will be days before our current river flooding problems end, especially on some of the larger rivers such as the Anclote which is forecast to go to major flooding over the next 24 hours.
A flood watch is in effect for Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, and Hillsborough counties.
- Jump to: Flood Advisories ▼
While the rain is to blame for most of the flooding woes the Bay area has been experiencing these past few weeks, some say poor infrastructure has played a big part.
"The system is definitely overwhelmed," said Jean Duncan, the director of transportation and storm water services for the City of Tampa. "So even locations that historically did not flood, because of the amount of water we have had over the last two weeks those areas are seeing flooding as well."
Retention ponds are overflowing around the Bay area, and engineers say it's because the ponds weren't designed for a huge rain event and it takes a while for them to drain.
"They are only designed to deal with a certain amount of rainfall over a certain amount of time," said Duncan.
Another factor that can add to the flooding is road construction, where crews haven't built holding areas for all the runoff yet. Duncan is asking everyone to be patient especially when you hit the roads.
"Your normal schedule can't always happen as it normally does," said Duncan.
The southwest Florida Water Management District activated the Tampa bypass canal system today to divert the Hillsborough River away from Tampa and Temple Terrace to help with the flooding.
Latest Flooding Updates
Here is a running list of updates about the latest day of rain in this unusual weather event and the flooding problems it is causing.
UPDATE 7 p.m. Gov. Rick Scott arrives in Pasco County to tour flooding and road damage. The governor says the state will do what it can to help residents in flooded areas.
UPDATE 6 p.m.: Governor Rick Scott will tour areas impacted by recent flooding in the Tampa Bay area with Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco at 6:15. We'll have LIVE coverage.
UPDATE 5 p.m.: US Alt 19 in Palm Harbor has REOPENED. Please use caution and watch for standing water.
UPDATE 4 p.m.: Flood warning issued for the Alafia River at Lithia until Wednesday afternoon.
UPDATE 3:50 p.m. Areas within WREC’s (Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative) service territory are experiencing localized flooding. At this time WREC has disconnected 46 homes due to flooding in the Jasmine Lakes Subdivision in West Pasco County. We are currently monitoring several areas closely for possible flooding situations.
UPDATE 3:30 p.m. Pasco Sheriff's Office bringing in additional deputies to patrol roads and assist flooding victims this evening.
UPDATE 2:30 p.m. Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn: Things have gotten better but beware of high tide later (5 p.m.) When going home- pick your route carefully, drive slowly. So far have given away 6,700 sandbags due to flooding.
Also, don't play in the water- there could be snakes, bacteria. "We don’t need children swimming in the flooded streets. I mean, that’s just plain dumb," he said.
UPDATE: 2:15 p.m. Pinellas Sheriff: Avoid Alt 19 between Curlew and Nebraska Avenue this afternoon. Do not try to detour through neighborhoods.
UPDATE 2:10 p.m. Tampa International Airport is showing 19 diversions (unchanged since noon), 180 total delays (106 Departure/74 Arrivals) and three cancellations (one inbound flight and two outbound flights). The average delay is around 55 minutes.
UPDATE:2 p.m. Hillsborough County partially activates its Emergency Operations Center. Residents can call 813-272-6900 to report issues or for more info.
UPDATE:1:45 p.m. Pasco County has re-issued the evacuation order for residents in the Anclote River Estates area of Elfers.
UPDATE:1:30 p.m. Pinellas Co. partially activates its Emergency Operations Center. Residents can call 727-464-4333 to report issues or for more info.
UPDATE:12:57 p.m. Mandatory evacuation called for the Suncoast Gateway Mobile home at 6010 Ridge Road in Port Richey
UPDATE: 12:25 p.m.: Tampa officials advised that the next high tide for the area will occur at about 5 p.m., which will impact drainage as motorists commute home. As the water table subsides, residents should expect an increased number of utilities cave ins. Tampa residents should report any issues within the roadway at 813-274-3101.
UPDATE 12:20 p.m.: Tampa has suspended residential and commercial solid waste pick up for today. Residents scheduled for pickup today will receive service on the next regularly scheduled collection day, which is Thursday. For questions or concerns, call the Utilities Call Center at 813-274-8811.
UPDATE: 12:15 p.m. Sandbags are being made available for North Pinellas County residents at John Chestnut Park, 2200 East Lake Road in Palm Harbor. Distribution will be open until 7 p.m. or for as long as supplies last.
UPDATE: Noon: Latest Hillsborough County road closures
UPDATE:11:30 a.m. Flood watch extended until 8 p.m. Tuesday. Same counties as earlier (Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, and Hillsborough)
UPDATE:11:15 a.m. Palm Harbor Fire Rescue: Caledesi travel trailer park has 9 adults and 2 children shelters in place with FD waiting for PTSA buss to arrive to take them to a shelter
UPDATE: 11:05 a.m. Shelters opening at following locations: First Presbyterian Church, 7540 Ridge Road, Port Richey (727) 849-1898 and Clearwater Community Church, 2897 Belcher Road in Dunedin (727) 464-8900.
UPDATE: 10:49 a.m. Other closures today: Tampa Bay Downs, Hillsborough Community College (Brandon/Dale Mabry Hwy.), Lowry Park Zoo
UPDATE: 10:44 a.m. A few rainfall totals from Monday morning: Ozona (9.1 inches), Northdale (6.45), Lutz (5.76), Hernando Beach (2.23), Palmetto (2.50)
UPDATE: 10:32 a.m. Busch Gardens announces it is closed for the day.
UPDATE: 10:26 a.m. The Florida Department of Children and Families Pasco County office located at 9550 US 19 Highway North, Suite 201-A, Port Richey, Florida 34668 is closed today due to flooding in the area.
UPDATE: 9:51 a.m. Pasco County Emergency officials having press conference at 11 a.m. regarding flooding.
UPDATE: 9:44 a.m. Duke Energy reporting widespread outages in Pinellas; about 300 outages reported in TECO coverage areas.
UPDATE: 9:29 a.m. Heavy rain from Gulf of Mexico still falling in Pinellas, Manatee, Hillsborough, Pasco and parts of Polk counties.
UPDATE: 9:29 a.m. TPD: Linebaugh Ave east of Nebraska Ave closed due to flooding. Please use an alternate route.
UPDATE: 9:20 a.m. More closures: Bay to Bay Blvd. and Manhattan Ave (Tampa) and Tampa Road just east of Alt US 19 (Palm Harbor)
UPDATE: 9:16 a.m. Tampa Intl Airport: Due to weather, no flights are arriving @FlyTPA for the next 30 min. We still have departures. Check with your airline for details.
UPDATE: 9:02 a.m. HWY 41/50th St at Adamo Dr CLOSED, due to flooding, per @TampaPD
UPDATE:: 9:01 a.m. In addition to multiple areas in New Port Richey/Anclote River area of Pasco County, flooding also reported in south Tampa, Northdale area of Carrollwood and parts of Temple Terrace.
UPDATE: 8:57 a.m. A river Flood Warning continues for the Anclote River at Elfers.
Very heavy rainfall this morning combined with heavy rains of the past week will cause major flooding on the Anclote River at Elfers. The crest may reach the top 3 all-time crests on the river similar to the flood event caused by Tropical Storm Debby in 2012.
UPDATE: 8:20 a.m. Hillsborough Flood Warning until 11:15 a.m.
UPDATE: 8:20 a.m. Clearwater is experiencing flooding on State Road 60 at McMullen Booth Road.
UPDATE: 8:18 a.m. More road closures - Dale Mabry Highway from Henderson to Clearview and Bayshore Blvd from Rome Ave to Platt Street.
UPDATE: 7:54 a.m. Roads closed now in Manatee County - 26th street west south of manatee avenue Village green s. of manatee avenue 9th street west in bradenton (between 21st street and 26th ave west).
UPDATE: 7:43 a.m. From Pasco County Emergency Management Agency: Immediate Evacuation Order for Anclote River Estates near Elfers. Major flooding reported along Anclote River near Elfers and along Elfers Parkway.
The early-morning heavy rains were strong enough to strand cars in Pasco County at US 19 and Foxhollow Drive, Massachusetts Ave. and Grand Boulevard and Massachusetts Ave. and Congress. Little Road has been closed between Ridge Road and Massachusetts in New Port Richey due to flooding.
Weather Advisories
There are flood advisories are in effect for several areas:
- Hillsborough County
- Eastern and Southwestern Hernando County
- Eastern Pasco County in west central Florida
- Western Polk County
- Northwestern Manatee County
- Pinellas County
Also, there is a strong southwest wind, bringing rough surf and a high risk of rip currents at area beaches through this afternoon.
The enhanced onshore winds will result in tides of 1 to 2 feet above astronomical values today and some minor coastal flooding.
There are river flood warnings for Little Manatee river at Wimauma, Cypress Creek at Worthington Gardens and Hillsborough River at Zephyrhills.
Residents in flood prone areas should be alert to any rapid rises in water levels and take necessary action to protect life and property.
Rain chances dip to 50 percent Tuesday before dropping to 40 percent by Thursday.
Flooding along Hillsborough Avenue, between Hanley and Kelly Roads. (PHOTO/Courtesy)
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