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[October 10, 2011]  (AP)  Stormy weather will continue over Florida this Columbus Day as easterly winds and a low pressure system dominate the state with considerable moisture.

(Click on map for larger image.)

These disturbances will produce a mix of showers, periods of locally heavy rainfall, gusty winds and thunderstorms through much of the day. Frequent lightning and squalls will accompany stronger thunderstorms and may lead to damaged trees and power lines. The low pressure system may see some development as it moves northwestward at about 10 mph across the central Florida Peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico. This system has a 30 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone by Tuesday afternoon. Regardless of development, various flood, wind, gale, high surf and rip current advisories, watches and warnings will remain in effect for the Florida Peninsula through Monday.

Meanwhile, these disturbances will also provide lighter precipitation to parts of Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.

In the central U.S., rainy weather will persist in the Plains on Monday as a quasi-stationary front reaches from the upper Great Lakes through the Plains. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico will interact with this disturbance to fuel more showers in northern Minnesota and more scattered showers with thunderstorms from parts of the Dakotas southward through eastern Texas. Some of these storms will begin to spread into the Mississippi Valleys. Today's rainfall will raise flood concerns for areas that have already experienced high rainfall totals this past weekend.

Elsewhere, a strong front from the eastern Pacific will move into the Pacific Northwest with gusty winds and periods of moderate to heavy rainfall. Precipitation from this system will spread into northern California as the disturbance moves inland.

Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Sunday ranged from a morning low of 16 degrees at Leadville, Colo., to a high of 95 degrees at Edinburg, Texas

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http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/

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http://www.intellicast.com/

[Associated Press article from Weather Underground]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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