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Welcome back, summer rains

People around the region rejoice as up to 3 inches of rain clears the dust and soaks the land.

By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published June 2, 2006

[Times photo: Lara Cerri]

Carla Adams wraps up her 3-year-old son Micheal Adams in a towel to shield him from the downpour as they left the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg on Thursday afternoon. More rain fell in two hours than in all of May, experts say.

	[Times photo: Skip O'Rourke]
	Lightning strikes off Apollo Beach on Thursday afternoon as much-needed rain finally fell across much of the region. Weather systems again favor afternoon thunderstorms.

It was as if the hurricanes huddled Thursday, checked the calendar and realized their time had come.

And so, around 3:30 p.m., for the first time most anyone can remember, it rained.

It poured, actually - 3 inches in two hours. More rain than had fallen in all of May. Or April. Or March. Across most of the Tampa Bay area.

Winds hit 60 mph in northeast St. Petersburg, toppling a Village Inn sign along Fourth Street N. Pea-sized hail fell on cars and streets and sidewalks.

Lightning brightened the charcoal sky. Thunder assaulted people's ears.

Most agreed: It felt great.

Bobby Thomas, 45, sat under a canopy at Wildwood Park in St. Petersburg and watched the baseball field flood, chuckling as lightning spiked the treetops.

The rain that raced into the storm sewers took some of the pollen with it. A day without Flonase was worth a celebration, Thomas said.

"I don't mind this one bit," said Thomas, extending a soaked hand.

Bill Brock, 37, didn't fret about his slogged commute home from Clearwater to St. Petersburg along Interstate 275. Finally, the lawn of his Kenwood home was getting wet.

"It's good to see the rain today," said Brock, sitting on his porch with a friend. By 5 p.m., 3 inches of rain had accumulated in St. Pete Beach, 2.5 inches in other parts of Pinellas and 1.84 inches at Tampa International Airport.

It hadn't rained since May 9, and only 2½ inches had fallen in the area since March 1.

Moisture blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean was the cause for Thursday's storm, a typical summer pattern affecting the state, National Weather Service meteorologist Russell Henes said.

Rain that started in the morning on the east coast of Florida grew into severe thunderstorms by the time it ran into the west Florida coastal sea breeze, Henes said.

More than 5,500 Progress Energy customers lost power in St. Petersburg during the storm, the utility reported.

In Hillsborough County, Marcos Hernandez, 19, and Pablo Vargas, 24, spent the day working on a roof of a new house in FishHawk Ranch.

When they started, the sky was clear and hot. Roofing is hard work in the heat; roofers get exhausted quickly. They took their shirts off, and the dust settled on their skin. Then, about 3:30 p.m., Hernandez felt a cool breeze.

He looked up and saw the clouds rolling in.

He felt the first drop of rain on his back.

"It feels nice," he said.

The rain was back.

And for one day, at least, that was all right.

Times staff writer S.I. Rosenbaum contributed to this report.

Extended forecast

Today: Scattered thunderstorms, high of 88, low of 73. Chance of rain 40 percent. Variable winds 5 to 15 mph.

Saturday: Scattered thunderstorms, high of 87, low of 74. Chance of rain 40 percent. West winds 5 to 15 mph.

Sunday: Thunderstorms, high of 85, low of 74. Chance of rain 60 percent. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph.

[Last modified June 2, 2006, 11:35:38]