PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. -- There's good news and bad news concerning the spread of red tide in Pinellas County. 

The good news, according to county environmental management officials, is that latest tests show the bloom is diminishing.

"The concentrations we're seeing along our coasts are lower than what we've seen in the early part of the week," said Environmental Management Division Director Kelli Levy.

But she adds that the lower levels may be short-lived. 

"What we went through is called like a "boom and bust," Levy said.

"The concentrations off our coast got so high that the bloom basically exhausted itself, and so now we're seeing those lower concentrations. But that doesn't mean we're out of the woods. It just means that we're experiencing a period of change, and we need to be watchful that those concentrations might come back."

What's needed, according to county officials, is some cooler weather to help kill off the bloom.

Spectrum Bay News 9 Chief Meteorologist Mike Clay says that's not happening anytime soon in his forecast.

"The start of fall means almost nothing to us," Clay says, "except we start looking for that first front, which usually doesn't get here until October. So we certainly don't see that first front in the next seven days."