Orlando weather: Afternoon, evening storms expected for Central Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. - A 60% chance of scattered afternoon to evening showers and storms are on the way for Central Florida.

Timeline:

A few isolated downpours will begin to form and pop up on the radar at around midday. The highest chances of rain and storms overall today will be from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.

A few isolated storms could be on the strong side, with the main impacts being strong gusty winds and pockets of torrential rain that could lead to minor flooding.

Frequent dangerous lightning can be expected as well and could delay afternoon dismissal for some districts across Central Florida.

How hot will it get?:

Temperatures will be above average, climbing into the mid 90s inland and low 90s at the coast. Feels-like temperatures will still be steamy, but not at extreme levels. Plan for peak heat indices to reach a range of 100-106°.

Increasing storm chances by end of the week

Moisture builds back into the region midweek which will bring higher chances of showers and storms, with a 60 to 70% chance through the weekend.

While this will be a more typical set up for us to see this time of year with afternoon sea-breeze driven storms, heavy rain and a few isolated strong storms are possible. It won't be a washout, but with the potential of frequent dangerous lightning, it's a good idea to have backup plans indoors.

Repeated rounds of torrential downpours over the same areas each afternoon could lead to isolated areas of flooding as well.

Tracking the tropics

The National Hurricane Center has highlighted one area of interest in the Atlantic for potential tropical development.

INVEST-95L: This area of interest has dissipated.

INVEST 96L: There's a high 70% chance of development over the next 2 days and the next 7 days for an area of low pressure that's formed off the west coast of Africa.

A tropical depression is becoming more likely by the end of the week, but development will be limited by the weekend as it moves into a less favorable environment.

If this system manages to strengthen into a tropical storm between now and this weekend, the next name on the list is "Dolly." Even with high development chances, it appears Invest-96L will stay out at sea in the open Atlantic.

The chances of a more westerly track are low, but we'll be keeping an eye on the data over the coming days.