We’re seeing our common mix of sun and afternoon storms. With strong summer heat and humidity, even a small amount of instability can ignite a round of rain and thunder. On Saturday, a few of these originated over the Everglades and also the western suburbs of Miami-Dade and Broward counties. With weak steering winds in place, some showers drifted north while others nudged east toward the coast. On Sunday, we’ll again face some scattered downpours. These, too, will favor inland locations although variable steering doesn’t guarantee a dry day at the beach! Since we don’t get fronts into south Florida during the heart of summer, what’s triggering these times of rain? During the day it’s the combination of hot rising air and the interacting sea breezes (from both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts). Also, at night, with onshore winds in place, we’re seeing a few random showers scoot toward the coast from the ocean waters. This classic pattern will continue through the first half of the new week. Then, we may see a more active set up with more rain frequency. Beginning Wednesday night (and lasting through the second half of the week), deeper moisture is expected to be drawn into south Florida. The effect of the juicy air will lead to more widespread rain and thunderstorms. The unsettled pattern will keep clouds over us much of the time with periods of wet weather. It’s worth pointing out that the upcoming surge in moisture is related to the former Tropical Depression Four that fell apart near the Lesser Antilles. The organization has long since fallen apart so what remains is simple “remnants”, or pieces. Finally, the tropical Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf waters are void of any tropical systems as of now. Even though it’s quiet at this point in time, it’s important to get updates on the status of the tropics as we continue through July and the rest of the tropical weather season!