Florida Weather

Parts of South Florida received 9 inches of rain, along with high winds that produced gusts of up to 70 mph.

The National Weather Service previously reported that two tornadoes caused extensive damage in Clearwater Beach, Dunedin and Crystal River on Oct. 11-12.

A woman in her 60s was sheltering in her bathroom at the Ridge View apartment complex in Crystal River when the tornado struck, causing significant damage more than a month after Hurricane Idalia.

This is as an area low pressure continues to produce widespread downpours across parts of the state.

The U.S. Drought Monitor says that some parts of the greater Tampa Bay region are facing one of their most severe droughts to date.

It follows a week of extreme heat across the greater Tampa Bay region, where records for high temperatures were set.

Tampa tied a record with a high of 96 degrees on Tuesday. More of the same was due Wednesday.

The average temperature in July reached 86.5 degrees, breaking the previous record of 86.3 degrees set last July.

Forecaster Bob Oravec said Monday that the dome of heat is expected to reach north to Kansas City and east to the Florida Panhandle and continue at least until the July Fourth holiday.

Communities from Houston to New Orleans opened cooling centers to bring relief as steamy hot temperatures settled across a broad swath of the U.S. South on Saturday.

Two people were injured after the waterspout came ashore Friday afternoon as a strong line of storms moved through the greater Tampa Bay region. More storms are expected this weekend.

As summer-like heat builds this week across the Sunshine State, an approaching cold front is expected to result in widespread storms by Wednesday.