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More rain on the way after weekend soaking

 
Heavy rain left a pond of standing water Monday morning in St. Petersburg’s Flora Wylie Park as shore birds hunt for prey. It rained much of Monday in St. Petersburg and was expected to continue for much of the week.
Heavy rain left a pond of standing water Monday morning in St. Petersburg’s Flora Wylie Park as shore birds hunt for prey. It rained much of Monday in St. Petersburg and was expected to continue for much of the week.
Published July 2, 2013

Come Thursday, you'll be crossing your fingers for a warm and sunny Fourth of July.

But until then, you're going to slosh through a lot of rain.

Nearly 5 inches of rain doused some parts of the Tampa Bay area this weekend and you can expect more of the same today and tomorrow.

The relentless showers prompted concerns of overflowing rivers and streets, so the National Weather Service issued a flood watch Monday afternoon that will remain in effect until Wednesday morning.

Pinellas County saw the heaviest rainfall in the bay area Monday. As of 9 p.m., Albert Whitted Airport had reported 1.93 inches of rain, and St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport reported 1.79. St. Pete Beach had 3 inches.

Tampa reported 0.44 inches, while New Port Richey had 0.56 inches, Hudson had 0.71, Brooksville had 0.43 and Spring Hill had 0.31.

Some places in Pinellas County also reported up to 5 inches of rain over the weekend. Forecasters predict that by Wednesday, some areas could see up to an additional 5 inches of rain.

Bay News 9 meteorologist Juli Marquez said we can expect some drying out before the end of the week. Rain chances will be about 40 to 50 percent on the Fourth of July, with scattered storms possible.

"I don't know about dry. We can try to do some sunny, but I don't know about dry," National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Garcia said of the holiday. "It's going to be one of those you have to play it by ear."

The wet weekend concluded a month of unusually high rainfall in the bay area, Garcia said.

Tampa was drenched by about 11.30 inches of rain last month, he said, well above the average 6.68 inches. The all-time record for June in Tampa came last year, when 18.66 inches of rain fell, an amount boosted by Tropical Storm Debby.

St. Petersburg had 9.48 inches of rain in June, which included Tropical Storm Andrea. That figure is 3.01 inches above normal, Garcia said, but well short of 23 inches — the record total that fell in 1974.

Zachary T. Sampson can be reached at zsampson@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8804. Twitter: @zacksampson.