Storms to usher in cooler temperatures

ORLANDO, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - Central Florida saw some of its heaviest rain in several weeks on Monday and Tuesday, to be followed by cooler temperatures. 

Strong to severe thunderstorms hit the region on Tuesday afternoon.  The biggest threat with these storms were damaging winds, hail, and some isolated tornadoes. 

"The day started out quiet, then the blowup mid-afternoon after a tornado watch was issued. We had wind gusts over at Port Canaveral and many areas across Central Florida, between 70-74 miles per hour -- 74 miles per hour is a category one hurricane. Powerful winds today and quite a bit in the way of hail," said FOX 35 Chief Meteorologist Glenn Richards.

In Orlando, investigators are looking into weather lightning is the cause of a house fire. Fire officials said this was an attic fire, and there was lightning in the area at the time it broke out at the residence on Contoura Drive.

Crews were called around 3:45 p.m. When they arrived at the scene, they pulled a dog out of the home to safety. Homeowners were not at the house when the fire broke out. Neighbors described stormy conditions when the fire started -- a lot of lightning, some hail, a lot of rain.

The winds at Cocoa Beach were strong, with pea-sized hail coming down at Port Canaveral during the first wave of storms that hit Tuesday afternoon. Power outages were reported across Brevard County. Florida Power & Light had restored much of the power by 6 p.m.

"The skies will begin to clear later on tonight, and we'll have cooler air moving in," Richards said.

Temperatures are expected to drop into the low 50s for Orlando, with drier air pushing into the region late Wednesday and Thursday.   Expect afternoon high temps in the low 70s for the remainder of the week.