STORM2K

Sumter County, Florida (5:00 AM ET):

Today. Mostly cloudy. Scattered showers and thunderstorms in the morning then numerous showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highs in the mid 80s. South winds 10 to 15 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Tonight. Cloudy. Numerous showers and thunderstorms. Lows near 70. South winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Friday. Mostly cloudy. Numerous showers and thunderstorms in the morning diminishing early afternoon then partly sunny late day. Highs in the lower 80s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Friday night. Partly cloudy. Isolated showers the evening. Lows in the mid 60s. Chance of rain 20 percent.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Marion County, Florida (9:55 AM ET):

This afternoon. Mostly cloudy with showers and thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Highs in the lower 80s. South winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Tonight. Numerous showers and thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe this evening. Lows in the upper 60s. South winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Friday. Showers and thunderstorms likely. Breezy. Highs in the mid 80s. Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Friday night. Showers and thunderstorms likely. Lows in the upper 60s. Chance of rain 60 percent.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lake County, Florida: (10:44 AM ET)

This afternoon. Cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 80s. Southeast winds 15 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Tonight. Mostly cloudy. Showers and thunderstorms likely. Some storms may be strong. Lows in the lower 70s. South winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Friday. Considerable cloudiness. Showers and thunderstorms likely. Highs in the upper 80s. Southwest winds 15 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.

Friday night. Partly cloudy. Isolated showers and thunderstorms in the evening. Lows in the upper 60s. Southwest winds 10 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent.

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAMPA BAY AREA - RUSKIN FL
302 PM EDT THU MAY 22 2003

...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL MAY PRODUCE SOME URBAN FLOODING TONIGHT
AND EARLY FRIDAY...

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL SLOWLY CROSS THE FLORIDA PENINSULA
TONIGHT AND FRIDAY...INCREASING THE COVERAGE AND INTENSITY OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME MORE NUMEROUS BY THE
EVENING COMMUTE. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE BRIEF
DOWNPOURS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND GUSTY WINDS OF 30 MPH OR MORE.

ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL DEVELOP OR MOVE IN FROM THE GULF
OVERNIGHT AND INTO FRIDAY MORNING. THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR HEAVY
RAINS TO FALL OVER THE SAME AREAS...INCREASING THE THREAT FOR URBAN
AND PERHAPS SMALL STREAM FLOODING.

CURRENT DATA SUGGEST THE BEST CHANCE FOR HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE
ALONG THE CENTRAL AND NORTH SUNCOAST...FROM THE TAMPA BAY
METROPOLITAN AREA THROUGH LEVY COUNTY.

AREAL EVENT TOTALS BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 2
TO 3 INCHES...WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF 5 OR MORE INCHES WHERE
REPEATING HEAVY RAINS OCCUR.

RESIDENTS IN LOW LYING OR OTHER FLOOD PRONE URBAN AREAS SHOULD BE
PREPARED TO SEEK SAFETY SHOULD ADVISORIES...OR WARNINGS...BE
NECESSARY TONIGHT OR FRIDAY.

$$

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR
UPDATES.

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION, CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT
HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TBW (LOWER CASE)

BSG

Its good to see you all in Fla getting your rains Tom:).......You guys have really needed it.........

From the looks of your radar you sure are getting it.

Very light rain right now, had some drizzle three hours ago.

That is better than nothing IMO.

I second Josh's statement Tom... better little than none at all.

Nice, Jeremy... while you posted the above message it began it was pouring our here. It began around 2:25pm ET and last for about 15 minutes. After the heaviest rain, there were three loud rumbles of thunder about ten minutes later.

Twenty or so minutes later, the road and driveways were dry, aside from the "Florida gutters."