FL Labor Day Weather: Weekend A Mix Of Sun And Storms

FLORIDA — Floridians are excitedly preparing for the Labor Day weekend, but will the Sunshine State live up to its nickname?

Not entirely, at least in the Tampa Bay area, according to the National Weather Service. A mix of sun and scattered and isolated thunderstorms are expected throughout the long holiday weekend with high temperatures reaching the low 90s from Sarasota to Tampa.

Your best bet for beach weather in the Tampa Bay area looks like the first half of Sunday, which calls for sunny weather, according to NWS. There should be some sun Friday and Saturday, as well, though mixed with scattered storms.

The full National Weather Service forecast for Tampa Bay can be found at the bottom of this article.

Weather should be a less wet in the Miami area over the weekend, according to AccuWeather. A morning shower is expected Friday in parts of the area with a mix of clouds and sun with a thunderstorm Saturday. Sunday is expected to be partly Sunday with a thunderstorm, while Labor Day will start off sunny with a thunderstorm later in the day.

Hurricane Forecast

A budding tropical system over the central Atlantic — called invest 91L, at the moment — is poised to become a tropical depression or storm within the next few days, according to AccuWeather. If the system strengthens and forms, it will be called Danielle, making it the fourth name storm in the Atlantic this hurricane season and the first since July 2.

As of 8 a.m., Thursday, the system is several hundred miles east of the Leeward Islands and has an 80 percent chance of formation over the next five days, the National Hurricane Center said. It is forecast to move slowly west-northwest toward the waters of the northern Leeward Islands.

From there, the system is likely to continue northeast of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico over the weekend, before passing by the Bahamas early next week, AccuWeather said.

Depending on steering breezes, the system could turn away from the Bahamas, the U.S. and Canada. If blocked by a non-tropical storm and a dip in the jet stream over the southeastern U.S., this could cause the system to move toward the U.S. Atlantic coast.

Tampa Forecast

The National Weather Service released this weekend forecast for Tampa:

Thursday: Showers and thunderstorms likely after 2 p.m. High of 93 with a head index of as high as 103.

Thursday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy with a low of 75.

Friday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m. Mostly sunny with a high near 93.

Friday Night: Showers likely and a possible thunderstorm before 8 p.m., then scattered thunderstorms from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Low around 75.

Saturday: Isolated showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m. Sunny with a high near 93.

Saturday Night: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8 p.m., then scattered showers and thunderstorms between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. Partly cloudy with a low around 75.

Sunday: Scattered showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Sunny with a high near 93.

Sunday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 2 a.m. Partly cloudy with a low around 75.

Labor Day: Scattered showers and thunderstorms mainly after 2 p.m. Sunny with a high near 93.

Monday Night: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 2 a.m. Partly cloudy with a low around 76.