Thunderstorms sweep across the area, dropping as much as 7 inches of rain on some communities. More of the wet stuff is likely today.
By MAUREEN BYRNE AHERN
Published August 10, 2003
[Times photo: Lara Cerri]
While his parents wait out the rain, Aaron Manning explores Tiera Verde.
John Wyszinski couldn't believe his eyes Saturday: a catfish making its way toward his front porch.
"Here's the fish coming right up to my door," said Wyszinski, who lives in Pinellas Park near U.S. 19.
Most likely, Wyszinski said, the unexpected visitor came from a culvert on his street.
It was just one of the many effects of Saturday's heavy rainstorms.
Sporadic thunderstorms caused isolated flooding throughout West Central Florida, drenching streets and disrupting traffic. The downpours dumped 2 to 7 inches throughout the Tampa Bay area, but no evacuations were ordered.
The heavy rains broke a 110-year record at Tampa International Airport, where 3.34 inches of rain fell by early evening, according to the National Weather Service. The old record, set in 1893, was 2.61 inches.
Don't expect today to be much different.
"There's one more day of this," said meteorologist Russell Henes of the National Weather Service in Ruskin.
Today's showers could result in 1 to 2 inches of rain, possibly as much as 4 inches in some areas. A flood watch remains in effect in all area counties through tonight.
Weather forecasters predict even more thunderstorms through Friday, mainly in the afternoons and evenings.
So why all the rain?
Blame it on an atypical weather pattern for this time of year, Henes said. Low pressure in the upper atmosphere, more common in the cooler months, is combining with tropical moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, producing heavy rainfalls across the central part of the state.
Water drenched streets in Pinellas County, especially at 49th Street and Park Boulevard in Pinellas Park, which often has drainage problems during storms.
The Florida Highway Patrol stopped traffic for 30 minutes on westbound Interstate 275 near the Howard Frankland Bridge. A truck overturned during a midday thunderstorm, spilling 10 gallons of diesel fuel and forcing rescue workers to clean up the mess, Sgt. Kristina Quenneville said.
As much as 7 inches of rain fell on Manatee County, where officials gathered at the emergency operations center Saturday afternoon. Rain pounded Bradenton, stranding cars on streets and in parking lots. By late Saturday, the Manatee and Myakka rivers were slightly above normal but had not crested.
In Citrus County, the Withlacoochee River was slowly rising, authorities said. Just a few families left the area, but most remained to protect their homes, if necessary.
Water flowed into some streets in Hernando County, but not into any homes, said Tom Leto, the county's emergency management director. And in Hillsborough County, forecasters expected the Alafia River to flood. "It's a creek most of the time, but now it's a river," said Jim Mortimer, a 13-year resident who lives in a house on stilts.
He and his neighbors planned to move their cars to higher ground at the end of the street. If the river is still in their yards Monday morning, they'll paddle their canoes to their cars to get to work on time, Mortimer said.
"We always ride it out," he said. "It happens."
- Times staff writers Suzannah Gonzales, Dan DeWitt and Ron Matus contributed to this report.
