Keeping our eyes to the sky and focusing on our 2 minute advantage!

March 5, 2011 Saturday 9 p.m.

The radar is still lighting up in western Florida! There have been some wind gusts near 50 mph but so far the good news is I have not received any damage reports in Florida and the tornado watch should be allowed to expire at 11 p.m. as this line continues to weaken as it moves to the north-northeast. This is the same line of storms that brought 4 tornado reports to Louisiana including an EF 2 tornado with estimated wind speeds near 120 mph. The tornado was 3 football fields wide and unfortunately there has been a confirmation of a fatality.

So what is the latest for us! Well I have been watching the models closely all night and I think we are still on track for rain showers and thunderstorms to break out in the morning and quickly exit our area in the early afternoon. The dynamics that brought the tornadoes to Louisiana to our west will also lift well north of our area. So even though we have plenty of wind shear and moisture to work with I do think the lack of instability will keep our wind gusts in the 35 to 45 mph range on Sunday. Here is the very latest on the timing graphically to help you plan your day out on Sunday.

Notice we will have bright reflectivity on the map which means heavy downpours and lightning will accompany our gusty thunderstorms. The line will quickly be moving from west to east. Notice below by early afternoon I am expecting most of the activity to quickly move offshore.

We will still keep our eyes to the sky and watch things closely for you on Sunday. If this line should come later rather than sooner our chances of seeing stronger storms increase dramatically. But for now with guarded optimism I can tell you our chances of seeing any severe thunderstorms on Sunday remains low and we should even be able to get outside during the afternoon and take in the nice warm breezes and sunshine. Have a great rest of your weekend and remember you can go to our web-site for your only Live Doppler radar tomorrow morning to keep you ahead of any storms that do develop. In the meantime we will zoom into some of those storms at 11 p.m. I will catch you on the tube. Thanks for reading.