Orlando Weather Today: Heavy Thunderstorms From Midday, With Almost Two Inches of Rain Forecast
Orlando's Sunday turns at noon: light rain at 94 percent, thundershowers at 100 percent by 1 p.m. and heavy thunderstorms at 2 p.m., on a day forecast to deliver 1.90 inches of rain. "Orlando weather" is a top-ten US search this morning.
Central Florida's Sunday splits in two. Orlando began the day mostly cloudy at 75 degrees with humidity at 84 percent, an east-northeast wind at 9 mph gusting to 18, and no weather alerts in effect, according to the live Orlando forecast read by this desk this morning. Sunrise came at 6:37 a.m. on the first day of standard time; sunset is 5:40 p.m.
The turn arrives at midday. The hourly forecast puts light rain at a 94 percent chance at noon, thundershowers at 100 percent by 1 p.m., and the day's peak — heavy thunderstorms, at 100 percent with nearly eight-tenths of an inch of rain in the hour — at 2 p.m. Thunderstorms continue through the afternoon and evening at chances between roughly 56 and 86 percent, with the day's total forecast at 1.90 inches, a high of 80 and a low of 70.
Travelers should build the storm into the airport trip. The FAA's Saturday-night operations plan lists a possible ground stop for Orlando and Tampa after 1 p.m. EST — the same hour the heaviest rain is forecast — with Orlando's aviation forecast carrying showers, lightning and gusts of 18 to 25 knots. As with the Miami listing in the same plan, that is a potential measure, not a confirmed stop, and no flight is reported delayed or cancelled by it.
Monday stays wet but lighter: showers at a 70 percent chance, 0.21 inches of rain, a high of 78 and a low of 71. For a city whose Sunday plans run through theme parks, outdoor attractions and a final day of early voting in Orange County, the practical advice is the mirror of Miami's: do the outside part in the morning, and treat any lightning as a move-indoors order, not a suggestion.
