Tuesday, April 8, 2008

More rain coming after Sunday's record downpour

Mark Brusiloff, of St. Petersburg, throws his cast net Monday near the Pinellas Bayway.

[Scott Keeler | Times]

TAMPA -- Tired of the rain?  It's not over.

The fog that enveloped parts of the Tampa Bay area this morning is just the beginning of a damp Monday following Sunday's record rainfall, weather forecasters say.

In Tampa on Sunday, a record-setting 2.05 inches fell at Tampa International Airport - about four times April's monthly average of 0.41 inches, Reynes said.

The sun is expected to peek through this morning, but the sea breeze will move inland with and bring with it thunderstorm activity, said meteorologist Nick Petro with the National Weather Service in Ruskin.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see some heavy downpours develop," he said.

Despite a soupy morning and afternoon showers, forecasters promise a more pleasant forecast is headed our way.

"We'll get sunshine," he said. "It's coming."

That's quite the departure from the weekend, when a slow-moving front joined heavy, pervasive low-level moisture resulting in a Sunday soaking.

"Basically, we had one of those incidents that covered the entire state," said meteorologist Anthony Reynes. "We haven't had that in a while."

Here's a glance at other area totals on Sunday as projected by the National Weather Service in Ruskin:

Tampa International Airport -  2.05
Sarasota - 1.19
St. Petersburg (Albert Whitted Airport) - 1.33
St. Petersburg- Clearwater Airport - 2.25 inches
Ruskin - 1.41
Winter Haven  - 5.11

-- Casey Cora, Times staff writer