leigh spann tells us what to expect. >>> thank you for joining us here on news channel 8 today. i'm gene ramirez. >> and i'm gayle guyardo. let's get you out the door with the tropics. >> yeah, you think tropical storm julia, what are you talking senate well, it formed at about 11:00 last night. it was an area of low pressure we were tracking yesterday. us is pretty small. in fact, nothing really changed since it got its name. a better look shows you where the clouds and rain are. the center of circulation just moving into south georgia but nothing on the left side, nothing on the southern side. almost all of the rain on the northern side headed into south carolina. it's going to draw up extra tropical moisture for us. right now, 40 miles per hour winds. by this afternoon, it's going to be a depression and drift north through georgia and si more humid today and that's why we have a couple showers off the gulf of mexico. but not very many. western portions of manatee and sarasota county, some showers. 20% rain chances this morning. and again, this is a tropical air mass so we wil

. >>> let's get a check on the weather for you with leigh spann. >> good morning. thunderstorms. 76 in odessa, 74 in brandon. i'll widen this out. 75 degrees in dade city, 74 in frostproof and 74 in north portelli. at the moment everything is quite. that was not the case a half hour ago. we had strong storms in citrus and hernando county and in the last 20 minutes it's completely gone. i'm keeping the rain chance out of the forecast for the first part of the day. a 20% chance and then a 40% chance this evening. they are not going to move a lot. at 4:38 an 8-day temperatures trend. stay tuned for that because we're trending cooler. >>> first a look on the roadways this morning. >> a pretty good drive over all. a drive on the sellman express. moving to the maps, zooming in an accidents eastbound at hillsborough avenue at orient road. now the travel times through ybor looks great parkway absolutely no delays at this early morning hour. that's a look at weather and traffic. back to melanie and gene. >> thank you, leslee. >>> we have break ing news now. at 4:32, tampa p

how is it looking, leigh spann? >> much better than 12 hours ago. we had intense thunderstorms and a good amount of hail as well. around 5:08, yesterday, strong thunderstorms. and now they tapered off around thunderstorms popping up just after midnight in pinellas county but those have also dissipated so just lingering clouds to the south. i left in a 20% rain chance for the coast this morning. most of you will be dry. and actually comfortable. 81 at 10:00 a.m. 85 at noon. 89degrees at 4:00 p.m. and about a 30% rain chance of storms later today. and they'll head east of 75. something to look forward to, a bit less humid and fewer storms for friday and saturday. and of course, i'm also still 97l. it will head into the central caribbean by saturday before making a hard right turn towards the bahamas. in the meantime, we will check on traffic on the 8s. hopefully nothing too bad. >> we have a guy staggering on the side of the howard frankland bridge. >> look at him. >> oh, i know. >> be careful. >> i hope he continues to try to be careful. but we will

. >>> what's going on weather- wise, leigh spann? >> this morning, still feeling the humid wind flow off the gulf of mexico. it's been with us all week long. no surprise, exactly how we felt yesterday including the from the gulf. they don't make it far inland. this is the one near sugar mills woods, off new port richey and pasco. a small amount of rain if pinellas. and some patchy rain in western manatee county. i left in a 20% rain chance for you this morning. but that's mostly for the coastal areas. and then up to a 30% chance at noon when it's 84. and a 40% chance through the afternoon and evening. we hit 88 degrees at 3:00 p.m. so it's a 40% rain chance today. and i get to knock that down to and then back up to 40% sunday. and 50% on monday. these storms today start near the coast and then they'll be more scattered later today. rain chances slightly better next week. and hurricane matthew expected to still remain off florida's east coast. and if that happen, it may bring us drier air next week. i'm not ready to pull the trigger q

leigh spann will tell us what to expect. >>> good morning. welcome to news channel 8 today. i'm gene ramirez. >> and i'm gayle guyardo. speaking of leigh spann, let's find out what's going on in the tropics. >> yeah, a lot of us went to bed with rain to the north and woke up this morning and it's tropical storm julia. basically the same as yesterday. almost all of the rain north and east of the center of circulation, look west of it is dry, basically in the southern part is dry as well. the only thing that's it's going to help do is draw up extra tropical moisture. as of 5:00, just a few minutes ago, still 40 miles per hour winds now. and it's going to quickly be downgraded to a tropical depression as it drifts northward. mainly bringing rainfall to the south carolina. let's talk about what's en the coast. remember, we had the tropical moisture pulling in. so right on the citrus, hernando, pasco border, you might see a shower or two. and then we have heavier pockets into sarasota coastal communities. and i looked at a 20% rain chance this morning. mostly for areas west of 75

let's head to leigh spann. f0 >> that's right. now the hurricane hunters are scheduled to go in this morning. they went in yesterday and found strong winds but not a

leigh spann has the late nest a bit. >>> good morning. welcome to news channel 8 today. i'm gene ramirez. >> and i am gayle guyardo. >> hurricane hunters flew into it yesterday and did not find that closed circulation. at this -- closed circulation. at this point, they are giving it about a 90% chance of becoming the next named tropical depression or tropical storm. something interesting will happen. it will head toward the west over the next couple days. through to saturday morning when it's south. but an upper-level trough or a dip in the jet stream is expected to pick this up and move it almost due north. before it heads north? most computer models keeping it near the bahamas but something we will keep a close eye on. this morning, still an onshore wind flow locally which is pushing spotty showers on the coast of citrus county. through the day, almost like yesterday, almost all of the rain pushes east of 75. about a 30% rain chance between 2:00 and 6:00. so coming up in weather and traffic on the 8s at 4:08, i your wednesday. gayle, back to you. >> thank you so much,

but first, a check on the wednesday forecast with leigh spann. is there something going on in the tropics? >> well, we have a tropical wave which has about a 90% chance of becoming our next tropical system, whether that's a tropical depression or a tropical storm. the hurricane hunters are expected to fly into it. the it's just east of the caribbean at this point. and most of the computer models take it due west over the next couple days. it's south of cuba. but an upper-level dip in the jet stream or trough is expected to pick this up and move it almost due north. a very odd look at how the computer models are going. and almost all of them take it toward the bahamas. we will have to wait and see, it's just how far west this goes before it moves farther to the north. so we will keep a close eye on it for you. and of course, if it does know. otherwise, an onshore wind flow pushing one or two showers on to the coast. that goes up to 30% as the storms push east of 75 later today. with a high of 88. so at 4:38, i do have a look at an eight-day temper

meteorologist leigh spann tracking the storm. news channel 8's meredyth censullo is in pasco county. jamel lanee' is in. and we want to start with leigh spann. >> good morning, guys. really good that we got the break overnight a louing some of the rain to soak into the ground. look-- overnight allowing some of the rain to soak into the ground. and look at tropical stor looks like it's headed west of the big bend of florida, making land fall around the panhandle. the red shaded area is a hurricane warning. for our area, a tropical storm warning and that means you could see tropical storm-force winds within 36 hours and it will start tonight for our area. 60miles per hour winds moving north now at 6 miles per hour. yesterday afternoon, this thing was stationary. so we're glad it's finally picking up some forward speed. the latist forecast also makes makes it a category one hurricane. that would make it historic. but we will get a new update in less than a half hour and see if it continues. as it moves through the panhandle and up i

but we want to the start with leigh spann to get the latest on the tropics. >> good morning. you probably went to bed with rain to the north woke up this morning to tropical storm around the jacksonville. and the western and southern sides of this pretty dry. and here's a better look at it for you. all the rain pushing up into south carolina. just spotty showers farther to the south. what is going to happen to julia, you see it's onland now. and not moving quickly. so all day today, it may bring some rain and wind, again to south carolina and georgia. and then fizzling out during the day tomorrow. what about for us? generally leaving with us a tropical air mass pl if the south, southwest. so it's pushing showers near our shoreline. maybe a small, light shower happening in largo. heavier downpours but not too heavy west of 75 in manatee county, near bradenton and sarasota and the gulf gate estates along the shoreline of sarasota. but we're not talking about even strong winds at this point. light winds inland. a little bit of a breeze near the coast. coming out of the south. so

leigh spann has the forecast. >> good morning. and before you head out the door this morning, grab the on the east coast bringing a lot of rainfall 95 is going to drift to the north and west meaning some of the shower activity will head into our communities. wouldn't be out of the question to see a stray sprinkle in polk county and highlands county and pasco this morning. but the majority comes later today. by midday, about 30% at that point. and going up to a 60% chance late they are afternoon and evening. and some heavy downpours will be possible. the extra clouds and rain about 89 degrees. which is average and cooler than it's been recently. at 5:38, i have an eight-day temperature trend for you and leslee has the roadways this morning. >>> pretty good drive so far. not seeing delays or anything like that. south 75 past state road 72 in sarasota, we have a collision possibly tying up a lane but no delays. looking good on u.s. 41 through bradenton and sarasota. and let's talk about south tampa now. we have a hole in the roadway.

let's check in with leigh spann. >> a few may be hearing thunder outside at this point. so we will continue the see a better coverage of thunderstorms just as we expect thanks to winds off the gulf of area, northern portion of pasco, even these are quick moving. but they do have lightning in it like zephyrhills. and a good amount of lightning heading east through hillsborough county and fish hawk and heading toward polk county, and a batch of rain here. downpours near the venice area and in sarasota. and again, spotty through manatee and sarasota and highlands county as well. a front has stalled to the north. all the storms are pushing unfortunately, it never gets far enough to the south. so the pattern will continue. and we are closely watching matthew, is expected to strength on the a hurricane before maybing a turn to the north. and maybe a category two hurricane south of cuba by monday morning. you don't have to worry this weekend. and next week though as it moves towards the bahamas, watching how close it gets to the east coast of florida. so as it moves through the

how is it looking, leigh spann? f0 >> yeah, thanks in part to the strong storms we had yesterday, it helped to draw some of the humidity out of the atmosphere. 12 hours ago, boy, 6:00 yesterday, we were still dealing with rain and had hail in areas. and then early this morning, there's been a couple showers just leaving in that slim rain chance this morning. mostly for areas right near the watches. 79degrees at 9:00 a.m. -- near the beaches. 79degrees at 9:00 a.m. and 85 degrees at 6:00. and now the rain chance will go up to 30% between noon and 6:00 and the storms will push inland or east of 75. drier air is coming, less humid and fewer storms for friday and saturday. and of course, i'm still watching invest 97l as it strengthens near the caribbean. hurricane hunters expected to go in this afternoon and investige tropical storm. but you see the computer models take it into the caribbean by saturday and most take it almost due north. an interesting path there. we will keep a close eye on it. we will check on traffic

leigh spann is tracking matthew this morning. what's the latest, leigh? >> well, good morning, guys. we are waiting on the 5:00 update. it should happen anywhere between now and 4:50. we will get the information from the hurricane center. it is a strong tropical storm. 65 sustained winds and just the caribbean and moving quickly to the west at 16 miles per hour. and as it moves through warm waters of the caribbean, it should become hurricane matthew. and notice we will be tracking this through saturday night, still well in the caribbean, way away in florida. and then it will make a hard turn to the north, passing by jamaica and heading toward the eastern portion of cuba monday evening. most of the models take this, continue to take this due north eastern portions of florida. let me explain why. this is one computer model. this is the european model but it shows what happens. there will be small differences but they all pretty much agree on moving due west, warm waters in the caribbean so becomes a stronger storm. and begins to make the turn to the north.

but we want to the start with leigh spann to get the latest on the tropics. >> good morning. you probably went to bed with rain to the north woke up this morning to tropical storm

. >>> least has your -- leigh spann has your wake up weather. >> the showers are cleared out so we're left with lingering clouds. temperatures not bad, what we expect for this time of auburndale at 74, 76 in sarasota and 72 in crystal river. after the evening storms i'm keeping it basically dry through the morning. we will bring that rain chance up to about 30% in the early afternoon, 40% by the evening. these storms will be pretty slow moving. if you do happen to be under one of them you may get a good amount of rain out of it. a high today of about 89 degrees. coming up on the weather and traffic on the 8s at 5:08 i'm tracking the trafficking.>> watching. >> it's a good drive out there. a nice morning on the interstates. no delays. i-4 another catronio leap at kathleen road in the heart of lakeland traffic looks wonderful. travel times through manatee and sarasota county. out in the suncoast area state road 64 to fruitville 9 minutes. up to speed plant city and the new tampa area on i-4 and i-75. that's a look at weather and traffic. with sad news this morning, a local high school b

how is it looking, leigh spann? >> not too bad. better than about 12 hours when we were seeing intense thunderstorms. we had lightning and hail and strong winds and torrential downpours. let me just take you back 12 hours ago. my goodness, we had strong storms and they continued until about 12:00. and we had thunderstorms in pinellas county around 1 , 2:00 chance this morning for areas near the coast. the rest of you should be dry. we will warm up to 85 at noon. and the storms will start earlier today. i'm bringing a 30% chance in around midday and continuing through the early evening. afternoon high around 8 9 degrees. the afternoon showers today head inland. we will bring in some slightly lower humidity and drier air for friday and saturday which will limit our storms. and in the tropic, invest 97l continues to the strengthen. and it will generally head west into the central caribbean through saturday morning. and most of the models have a hard right turn heading up the east coast. now we will check in on traffic on the 8s to see

leigh spann has the latest in a bit. >>> good morning. welcome to news channel 8 today. i'm gene ramirez. >> and i am gayle guyardo. let's head to leigh spann. >> hurricane hunters flew into it yesterday and did not find f0 going to fly back in this morning and at this point, they are giving it a 90% chance of becoming the next tropical system, whether it's a tropical depression or tropical storm matthew. and it's moving west at 18 miles per hour right now with sustained winds at 40 miles per hour. so it has tropical storm-force winds but not that closed circulation. as it moves west, between the next couple day, it's going to be south of the dominican republic and haiti by saturday morning at 8:30. and then a dip in the jet system up and move it almost due north. a strange path. our concern will be just how far west it goes before it makes the turn to the north. at this point, all the models keep it in the bahamas but we're watching it, that's for sure. locally, an onshore wind flow so we have seen the spot city showers. here's one. and this will happen through the next

let's get straight to meteorologist leigh spann. f0 >> yeah, good morning. it hazus winds of 65 miles per hour. the hurricane hunters were in it late last night and didn't find a stronger system as it moves quickly to the west at 16 miles per hour. just moves through the islands here into the caribbean. let me show you the latest forecast. not much as changed actually. it's still expected to become a category one hurricane by tomorrow. and on through sunday morn, this is 2:00 a.m. on sunday with 85 miles per hour winds, that's when it makes the rd north, still expecting to do that. possibly strengthening to a category two hurricane by monday but interacts with land in cuba early tuesday so expected to be back to a category one hurricane. and again, this strange turn to the north is what all of the computer models are saying, reacting to the dip in the jet dream. stream. and even the long range models take it away from the u.s. coastline. so something we're watching for to the north. and we're also watching a couple showers like the ones moving onshore in the

here's leigh spann. >> we're still dealing with the one flow off the gulf of mexico. it makes it feel more humid. and it also brings in showers. let me show you where the notice there's some out in the gulf to come onshore but the ones that made it to land at this point, west of sugar mill woods, maybe a dot or two or rain off the new port richey coastline as well. and heavier rain in manatee county along 75 and along the beaches there. so rainfall potential today, between now and noon, spotty rain and almost all of it is going to be west of 75. the light green color is less than an inch of rain. and toward the afternoon, just pockets of heavier rain. that's what the blue color means. just pockets where the rainfall will be heavier. going through the day temperature-wise, we get up to 77 at 8:00 a.m. 82 at 11:00. 88degrees for a high temperature around 3:00 p.m. and 88 by the way, above the average, starring today is 87. tomorrow, down to 87. and yeah, back up to 89 sunday and monday. and more humid. we will check on traffic on the 8s now because i know yo one big inc

. >>> leigh spann has a look at the weather on this monday door. not uncomfortable but not fall-like. palm harbor, lutz about 75 degrees. it's also 75 in dade city. bartow at 76 and 74 in north port. at this point things are dry. i know we had these big evening thunderstorms, that even lasted in citrus and hernando counties until 4:30. now there's a couple of lightning strikes offshore. basically dry through the morning. the rain chances go up. around 30% at after 5:00. the storms will be slow moving. they will develop on top of you and have to rain itself out. other wise temperatures today making into the upper 80s. i have an 8-day temperature trend to show you at 5:38 that you probably want to stay tuned for to see how cool we actually trend. >>> first a look at the roadways this morning. >> a nice drive out there. a wouldn'ted droouf think -- a wonderful drive through lakeland. this is state road just a 6 minute commute across the howard frankland bridge, 10 on the courtney campbell. that takes you over to memorial highway. in sarasota we have a

and leigh spann has the day off but ed bloodsworth is pilling in this morning. how is it shaping up out there? >> not too bad. can't complain too much. the only thing you may have an looking at 77 for odessa. a couple degrees cooler for brandon and sun city center. both locations at 74. a balmy 81 this morning and st. pete. and 76 in wesley chapel is dade city. for today, a change coming our way. we will have the continued easterly flow but the big difference today, more moisture. that means better rain chances. we will see a better coverage of showers and thunderstorms. by noon, could see some of the activity getting going earlier in the day. and i think the better will be once we get past lunchtime today. don't be surprised if we run into heavy downpours during the afternoon and evening. 89 is the average high. temperatures still above average around 91 degrees later on today. so a break from the heat. and coming up, we will look at what you can expect over the next eight days which does include a nice cooler trend. >> that will be nice. >>> traffic right now

leigh spann is standing by with the very latest. it made land fall around 1:30. >> exactly. it's still a monster storm. here's where it made land fall, 80 miles per hour and that makes it a hurricane and it's the first hurricane in 11 years to the make land fall in florida around the border of jefferson county. this is no quickly. picking up forward speed, thank goodness but not fast enough for us. we would like for it to go away faster. we still have tropical storm warnings for citrus, pasco, pinellas, manatee and sarasota. so you could still feel tropical storm-force winds wrapping around the center of circulation. here's what i'm concerned about. we get the feeder bands. look at this band that extends and look where it's going, right into tampa bay, basically north of i-4. and that's where we have a tornado watch as well. the feeder bands have rotation in them so the threat is there. it means that the it's a possibility. that's what a watch means. through 8:00 a.m. for citrus, hernando, pasco and pinellas. and extremely heavy rain leading to a flood watch for our coast th

meteorologist leigh spann is

so when the weather starts cooling off, well, we have to turn to leigh spann to find out when. >> i mean, i put my orange on, showing you great graphics but let me give you the real news about fall in florida. when is it going to cool down? on average we get our first temperature to drop below 60 which we know is boots and sweater weather around october as late as november 15th before we drop below 60 degrees. so enjoy more summer weather, right? it's not quite as humid today. and look over the past few hours. you see the red color? i've been tracking it. and that's drier air in the upper-levels of the atmosphere. so while it may still feel humid at the surface, it's going to limit our rain chances. only 20% this afternoon. and in response to that, we don't get as much rain. afternoon high today of 90 degrees. at 5:38, checking the tropics. and leslee lacey is tracking the roads. >>> that's right. tracking good traffic. it's looking very good. we have a little bit of debris in the north port area, northbound 75, not too far away from toledo blade boulevard. be careful. it's dark out ther

meteorologist leigh spann is here with the first day of fall forecast. feels like beach weather to me. >> yeah, it will continue. when is it actually going to cool off? the first day we have the low temperature below 60 degrees which we know in florida means boots and sc 17th. so we still have about a month. but it has happened as late as november 15th. yes, you have a few more beach in your future, including today. this is dry air in the upper- levels of the atmosphere. and i have been tracking it as it spreads to the south. now still humid at the surface but without the moisture in the the upper levels, we don't see many storms develop. about a 10% chance at noon. cooling i from -- cooling effect from the storms. and two named systems out there. and leslee has the roads. >>> that's right. a little bit of overnight construction. we have a good drive, 275 at kennedy, that's off the howard frankland bridge. but as we move to the maps here in seminole height, this is going on today but should wrap up by the end of the day, water main work westbound martin

. >>> and leigh spann, what's happening weather-wise? >> this morning, we are cooler than the past few days but now it's starting to warm up. we are already at 79 degrees at the hyundai of new port richey in new port richey. and you see the big towering cloud. one place seeing rain and that's around the new port richey area. but everybody is warming up. 86 in plant city. clearwater, 82. and i wanted to show you this new port richey area because begin you had rain that fell and lingering clouds but at this point, everyone is dry. what i do the think will happen, we have about a 30% rain chance and the storms will generally push east of 75 and head farther inland and toward the east coast. i bring the rain chance up to 40% tomorrow as a weak front gets into north florida. and that's eventually going to bring -- that's eventually going to bring less humid air for friday and in the tropic, invest 97l strengthening close to the caribbean. it has about a 90% chance of developing. the forecast computer models with this in a little bit, gene. >>

leigh spann has your wake-up weather. >> well, good morning. right now, we're more 69degrees in dade city. 71 in bartow and lakeland. 69 in inverness. there's one area of rain still left out there just off of the west coast of pasco county but i left in a 20% rain chance because i think there's these small showers near the shore. in the morning hours. as the day goes on, the coverage of rain gets better. by lunchtime through 6:00 p.m. and the storms will head east of 75 and afternoon high right around 89 degrees. coming up at 5:38 though, an eight-day temperature trend in weatan where we trend cooler. so stay tuned for that. but leslee lacey keeping an eye on -- very interesting. hopefully it's okay. >> this person walking on the howard frankland bridge southbound, he has walked out of the camera range. so we can't see him anymore but fhp tells me that they are headed out there and they'll make sure everything is safe. but we can no longer see him. if you're driving on the howard frankland bridge, just methods up here, southbound -- just a head

we want to start with meteorologist leigh spann with the latest on the tropics. >> yeah, you probably went to bed last night, no tropical system anywhere close to the florida and woke up this it formed right on the coast of jacksonville. it's actually drifting to the north and west. it's onshore now but the tim pact is going to be real small. notice the wind flow bring all the rain to the northern side of this up into city councilling and and even into some of georgia. not even all of georgia. as it pushes slowly to the north, it's going to be a tropical storm for the next few hours. and then it will weak on the a tropical depression and then just fizzle out basically in the the impact on us, while we do have tropical moisture linger inning in place and a south to southwest wind. that means a couple showers are possible near the coast. very light and spotty showers. places are seeing, again, light rain in coastal areas of manatee and sarasota county. basically along and west of 75. and that's why i left in the 20% rain chance this morning. now again, you heat things up and there's not

here's leigh spann. >> still dark for the most part. what i am also seeing on radar right now, spotty rain. and that's what i have been tracking basically not only every morning this week. onshore wind flow, rain in inverness and south of sugar mill woods in hernando county. and new port richey, a spot of rain around the sunshine skyway bridge. a little spot of rain as well. the rainfall potential today, not a lot this morning and it's almost exclusively west of 75. and now the rain chances is going to go up today. 40%. a better coverage of rain with spotty areas. you see the blue color with heavier downpours or an inch of rain. it won't happen everywhere. but you might get heavy rain. and we heat up to 82 at 11:00. 88 around 3:00 p.m. and 88 is above the average of 87. today is the first day the average has dropped to 87. 87 tomorrow. and back to up 89 for sunday and monday with higher rain chances as well. we will check with traffic on the 8s because we know a couple people need to know a couple things. >>> yeah, especially hillsborou

let's turn things over to leigh spann on this thursday morning. f0 >> good morning. it's a nice morning. we still have lower humidity to talk about. this time of the year, that's a plant city is at 72. lakeland also at 72. more humid to the south. sarasota, you're 76 verses a cool 64 in inverness. so yes, when you look at the water vapor imagery, the bright red color is the dry air. and the more humid air across south florida but nice to see the red color taking over most of tampa bay. which is why the rain chances today are so small. out of forecast this morning. only going up to a 20% chance later today and that's south of afternoon high of 91 which is not too far from the average of 90. in weather and traffic on the 8s, i have an hour-by-hour look at your thursday. and leslee has the thursday morning commute. >>> a little bit of trouble on the roadway but not slowing you down. we have a collision out here, flashing lights for you. this is southbound 275, injuries involved and it's tying up the right lane here. this is south 275 past 54th avenue south before you ge

. >> we need to consult with leigh spann. >> i usually wait until october before i focus in on buying christmas gifts and things like gene said, i had my first pumpkin donut yesterday, and i'm easing into the fall it doesn't feel like fall out there on this labor day. a few clouds at 8:00 a.m., and you may have a stray shower as early as lunchtime. 90 at 4:00 p.m., and there's a 40% chance of storms later in the day. right now, it's 73 in zephyrhills. and crystal river is at 75. patchy clouds this morning. we had 2:00 this morning. but seasonably warm, and not extremely humid, but what you would expect for early september. as we head through the the afternoon, the storms will form and drift to the south and west, and notice here at 3:00, a few storms, and note where they go. they head toward the i-75 corridor and further south to i- 4. again a little the better coverage this afternoon, and here's where things change. from the north, tomorrow, the dryer air nudges farther and farther south. 20% rain chance for tuesday and wednesday, and you know this time of the year the dry air does n

let's get a check on the weather with leigh spann. hey, leigh. >> good morning. starting to see clouds developing now. of new port richey, 84 degrees, light wind but clouds are starting to get dark which means there's moisture in them. and eventually we will see some rain coming out of them. most of it has been on the east coast, the area of low pressure, you can pick out that spin and it's going to drift to the north and west and as it does, continuing to give us higher moisture levels and maybe sprinkles in citrus, hernando, eastern portions of polk county, closer to this areaof rainfall potential for the rest of the day? well, forward in time, this is how much rain possibility we could see. but notice more of the trend. so let me zoom up here, the green color is less than an inch of rain. notice how there will be pocket where is you get 1 to 2 inches of rain. and that's a possibility with the tropical-type downpours. i will tell you when we bring the rain chances down a bit coming up guys. >>> and now a breaking news update. this is video if the scene in polk

leigh spann has a check on the forecast for us. >> well, it's a steamy one. if you haven't been outside much, well, the humidity is really at oppressive levels and you see that when you look in brandon, how big the clouds are. haven't seen rain at more like 97 when you have that humidity. and what's happening is that the winds are coming off the gulf of mexico. so it's bringing the spotty showers in. and this is weakening a bit as it heads along i-4, pushing from west to east through hillsborough county at this point. so up through seffner, thonotosassa, up toward plant city, seeing the rain coming your way: one small shower north of i-4 in polk county and spotty showers in hernando and citrus county at this point. rain chances, depending on rain chance along the coast. that's basically going to be ending soon because the rain will start to push farther inland. a 40% rain chance in this light green color between noon and 4:00. and after 4:00 p.m., most of the rain is going to be in eastern polk county and highlands county and pushing toward i-95 on the east c

. >> it is straight up 6:00 so let's go over to meteorologist leigh spann. >> skies are clear and temperatures are not far away

we are going to go straight to leigh spann for the latest on your weather today. look that the. when you look at the loews don cesar over the gulf of mexico, it's like glass at this point. 87degrees, a perfect summer day on the beach except for the last 40 minute, the it's no longer been summer. we are officially in fall. it began at 10:21. the average high today is still 88 degrees. i know what you want to know is when is it going to cool down? look at this, november 1st, average of 81. break out the sweaters for high of 75. even though the average is 88, we will be hotter by the afternoon, 90 degrees. not many storms developing so fall begins and summer heat continues. the rain chance today, tomorrow and saturday just 20%. out in the to bics, two systems -- tropic, two systems out there. but both should stay in the open waters of the atlantic. a 20% rain chance today, tomorrow and saturday and 30% sunday and monday. >> thank you. can only be described as chaos. protests over the officer involved shooting death of keith scott spiraled into riots with violence against police off

here's meteorologist leigh spann. >> good morning. we felt the drier air, the less humid air yesterday. and it's holding on today for the most part. you see the red shaded area. this is the moisture in the atmosphere. the red is dry. the blue is more humid. it's starting to creep back in. it's not quite as comfortable today. an afternoon high of 91 which is just above the average of 90. but with the drier area, notice the rain chance today, mostly south of i-4. in weather and traffic on the 8s, i have an hour-by-hour look at your wednesday. and leslee is going to help you plan the commute. >>> pretty good right now. great in downtown tampa and downtown st. pete. we have a road closure, reminder for you, seminole boulevard north of ulmerton. some of the northbound lanes are blocked. during rush hour, take starkey through the area or move over northbound side. let's take a live lookout here. looking good across the howard frankland bridge. only going to take you six minutes to cross it. and that's a look at weather and traffic. and now

and let's check in with meteorologist leigh spann today with three named storms. f0 the peak of hurricane season cement 10 south we are in an active period in the tropic, especially the atlantic. tropical storm julia, tropical storm ian and newly formed tropical storm karl. ian is not a problem for anyone. julia, it regained tropical storm status after it had been downgraded yesterday to a tropical depression but really it's just going to sit and spin off the carolina coast through the weekend and next week. not much of an issue. and now we turn our attention to karl. karlit 45miles per hour winds. moving west, it slowly gains strength. in fact, with the latest forecast this morning, it makes it a category one hurricane by 2:00 in the morning on wednesday. but what i really like to see is they're starting to turn this to the north. there's the united states coast way over there. we will watch it because it is head add cross the atlantic but it's a long way away. what we do know, it feels tropical here. uncomfortable amount of storms. about a 40% chance after 3:00

let's head to leigh spann. f0 >> that's right. now the hurricane hunters are scheduled to go in this morning. they went in yesterday and found strong winds but not a wednesday and leslee lacey has the wednesday commute. >> that's right. >>> we have a couple issues going on. some things pop up and then clear up. i-4 a great drive through plant city right now, no delaysment but over here in polk county, westbound i-4, kathleen road in the heart of lakeland, an accident. all cleared up but just remaining vehicles to the right shoulder. it won't slow you down. traffic is getting busier in general. we are seeing more vehicles out there. and look at this, 275 hillsborough avenue, heading into downtown now. that's a look at weather and traffic. back to gene and gayle. >> leslee, thank you. >>> right now, the it's just two weeks into the baseball season but players in st. petersburg could be striking out soon. the sports management company that manages the league is holding back payments collected from fees. mary mcguire is live in st. pe

. >> here's leigh spann. >>> a quick break from the humidity. today is going to feel like a kip call labor day holiday. a few clouds this morning, 79 degrees, quickly warming to 86 by noon, and we add in the smallest rain chance. maybe you're having a barbecue at your house. watch for the skies to produce a lot, but then around 4:00 p.m., the areas closer to coast. 90degrees at 4:00 p.m., and inverness and brooksville, you're at 75, and 77 currently in sarasota. it gets warmer closer to the coast. 78 in st. petersburg, and i had my weather watcher, bob up early on this labor day. this morning, partly cloudy, and seasonably warm, and it's not superoppress i havely early september for us. the showers will develop around 3:00. there could be areas in the middle of the afternoon that produced heavier rain, and as the day goes on, storms will drift to the coast and get heavier. if you had any barbecue plans, be aware, especially close to the coast. and also notice, they are drifting to the south. that's because dryer air is really going to start to s

and meteorologist leigh spann is tracking hermine and ed monitoring the conditions. but first, leigh to find out the latest on the storm's track. >> reporter: yeah, first of all, i want you to see the massive scope of what is now tropical storm hermine. again, it was downgraded but we've got rain bands up into virginia and the feederrer band through our area. recapping though, it did make land fall at 1:30 a.m. with winds of 80 miles per hour right near st. marks. and now that makes it land falling hurricane in florida in 11 years. since wilma back in 2005. since then, we've continued to see worsening conditions here in the tampa bay area. high tide that happened just after midnight between 2:00 and 3:00. and that combined with heavy rain from the feeder band, the rain band, has really kept us with flooding conditions across the communities. we are remaining under a tropical storm warning for our coastline. well, embedded in any rain band around a tropical system, you have the threat of tornadoes. that goes until 8:00 this morning. and a flood watch. again, we have po

leigh spann, we have to wait for it? >> we have to wait for it. exactly right. i mean, i may be wearing fall- like colors but that's about as fall-like as it's going to be. when will it cool down? we get the average first low er degrees and if you're like me, that means time for satisfies and boots, the average time that happens is october 17th. but we've had to wait at some point, the latest that's happened, november 15th. yeah, it's coming, it's just not here yet. it's going to be a hot day today but i've been tracking trier air in the upper-levels of the atmosphere, this red color. i've been seeing it sneak farther to the south. while it will be hot, this is an indication that we will see thunderstorms this afternoon. at 2:00, only a 20% rain chance. isolated storms, yes, still a high of 90 degrees. at 6:38 in weather and traffic on the 8s, i am tracking two areas in the tropics. leslee has the roadways. >>> good drive through downtown tampa. starting to get busier but still holding on to it nicely. let's talk about some things going on here, some travel time

now over to leigh spann. >> many of you are taking the day off, and i know you want to know what is going to happen with the weather. this morning, it's not too bad. seasonably humid, not oppressively humid. we will take what we can get. 79degrees at 8:00 a.m., and the first few showers developing around lunchtime. if you have plans so head outside later this afternoon and evening, the rain chances will be going up, and temperatures around 90 degrees, and better rain chances closer to the coast. i will show you what to expect throughout the day today. patchy clouds this morning, and the forecast model putting in light rain in polk and high lants conditioned. i think there's a little more moisture increasing across the atmosphere, but by lunchtime, i would not be is surprised to see one or two more showers that develop. later on, 1:00, 2:00, heavier and all the rain will generally be pushing to the south and west. the later you head into the day, the more the rain will be moving to the coast and farther down to the south. that's because some dryer air is starting to push in. not today, but

leigh spann is back. >> it feels extra humid this morning. 75 in tampa. 78 in sarasota. right here off the state of florida, off the east coast. now i'm not expecting this to develop into anything but bringing more moisture into the area, overnight, a couple showers here in the inland area, so i wouldn't be surprised to the see that. but most of the rain will come later in the day. and it's going to go up significantly about 20 to 30% rain chances by midday. 60% into the afternoon and evening. i found a coverage of storms at 4:08, i'll take you hour-by- hour through your tuesday. and leslee has the tuesday commute. >> welcome back. >>> let's take a look at traffic. here's the howard frankland bridge. we've got a good drive. no delays. only going to the take six minutes to cross it. the sun coast area, manatee county, state road 64, right at 75, we do have a collision. it's actually right under the interstate there. and it is tying up lane, west tampa, we have this pothole out and another one on macdill. more coming up in the next report. and now back to gene and gayle. >

. >> that's next, leigh spann. >> how is >>> we really should. ours would be worse singing than what i just heard but it will be a lot of fun. it's a comfortable morning. again, still have slightly lower humidity. i don't think it's quite as comfortable as yesterday morning but we will call it comfortable. low humidity, still warm, 86 at noon. 91 at 4:00 p.m. the low humidity is going to keep the rain chance at 20%. 70 in inverness. humid it feels. 76 in sarasota. and my weather watcher bob in venice says it's 75 at his house. another relatively pleasant morning. thankfully the dry air has come in. it's not going to the last long. starts to retreat back to the north during the day today. which is why our 20% rain chance is mainly south of i-4. the farther north you go, you will hang with the drier air longer. humidity starts to increase tomorrow. still keeping the rain ce but you will feel more humidity. and then the rain chances return. 30% friday and saturday. 40% sunday. leslee, how about traffic on the 8s? >>> taking a look at the roadways. w

let's turn things over to leigh spann. >> i look forward to hearing more from 75 degrees at 8:00 a.m. that's a bit below average and the lower humidity makes it feel more comfortable. but it warms up quickly. a few showers through the afternoon, especially south of i-4 with a high of 91. inverness, you're at 64 degrees. when you have lower humidity, your temperatures cool down more overnight. we will take it. 67 in zephyrhills. 71 in auburndale. and more hue knowed the south. nice, especially the farther north that you live. the moisture level is higher in the southern areas. so again, 20% rain chance. almost exactly like yesterday. almost all the rain today is going to fall south of i-4. it's going to move from east to west and push off the coast by the evening. tomorrow morning is not going to feel as nice. you start to the feel the humidity increasing which will not only bring our rain chance up to about 30% but it's going to bring showers to the north. and we keep the rain chance at 30% through and 40% next week. how about traffic on the 8s? >>> all right, well, rolling along. we

leigh spann, what's going on? >> a strong tropical storm. it has 65 miles per hour winds. the hurricane hunters flew in last night. didn't find a stronger than 56 strong it was at 11:00 last night. but it's a strong tropical storm in the eastern caribbean and moving quickly to the west at 16 miles per hour. this is the forecast over the next 24 hour, it should strengthen to a category one hurricane. and by sunday, this is all weekend long watching this in the caribbean, it starts to take to the turn to the north and may briefly be a category two hurricane before interacting with cuba tuesday morning as a category one hurricane. why is it going to turn so abruptly to the north? well, over the next 24 hour, it's in the warm water of the caribbean so it should strengthen. and northward, it interacts with the mountains of cuba and haiti and that's going to keep it back down to a category one hurricane. and here's the interesting thing, we have the dip in the eastern u.s., area of high pressure in the atlantic drifting east. and it's really just creating this path for the storm

we will take a closer look at both sides in minutes, but first, out to the tuesday forecast with leigh spann. >>> you may want to get outside today because we have lower humidities. lakeland at 72, and you go farther to the south, and it's quite humid. 76 in will be getting into the dryer air. boy is that good knew. yes the anclote river, and that's near cyprus creek and places along the peace river. all are above flood stage. this the water vapor imagery. the dry air continuing to push today, very small. only about a 20% chance during the afternoon and evening, and we need to dry out, and 4:38. a 8-day temperature trend. >> enjoy the roads while we can can, folks it's a nice dry drive. 275 looking good. i-75, roughly 9 minutes on your commute. that is southbound into downtown tampa, and northbound on away at pioneer museum road, and that's just north of downtown dade city. a live look at the howard frankland bridge, and a gorgeous drive. that's weather and traffic, and back to gene and gayle. >> thank you, leslee, flooding continues to be a major concern for residents in pasco county, espec

>>> let's turn things over to leigh spann. >> right. you have time to face time but not go to the doctor. good story. >>> this morning, it is muggy. 80degrees at 8:00 a.m. still not much rain at noon. chance. you might see a stray shower by the lunch break, 87 degrees. the better rain chances in the afternoon. high temperature of 90. yes, it is your typical summer day. right now, 23478 bartow. brooks-- now, 78 in bartow. brooksville, 73. staying humid today, generally a southwest wind. notice the time the stamp, around 1:00, 2:00, seeing spotty showers develop. during the afternoon, most of the storms will be along and and they could even last until about 8:00, 9:00. when you go out to dinner, maybe to the high school football games, a lingering thunderstorm. that will clear out quickly. saturday morning, mostly dry and muggy and the same forecast again. similar pattern, 40% chance of afternoon storms. and sunday, dropping the rain chance to 20% and 30% monday. how about traffic on the 8s? >>> a look out here, we have overnight construc

. >>> let's get a check on the weather with leigh spann. >> and i don't think the mosquitoes are going anywhere any time soon. the heat and humidity going to stick around. at this point, no finding rain for the next couple hours. 79degrees at 8:00. a couple isolated storm, 30 to 40% rain chance at noon. 90 at 4:00 p.m. when most storms head inland. 73 in brooksville. 76 in sebring. and my weather watcher bob in venice says 78. yeah, it's humid. and there's a cold front to the north. it has stalled. so all it's going to do is give us the onshore flow. you can see show between now and basically lunchtime. the storms migrate farther and farther east through hillsborough and landing through polk county, highlands county area before heading toward the east coast this evening. same thing tomorrow, a possibility of a coastal shower, still humid and pushing inland although i brought the rain chance down to 30% for thursday, friday and saturday. and fall starts on thursday. what about traffic on the 8s? street close. coming through ybor. and a couple more vehicles on the right shoulder but no d