As Hurricane Florence slowly makes its way westward to the East Coast, moisture is being pulled from the air over Florida, setting the Tampa Bay area up for an unseasonably dry weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, just after 7:30 a.m., moving slowly west at 6 mph. Florence's circulation is so large, forecasters said, its westward tract is bringing more westerly winds Friday and drying out the air. A strong afternoon seabreeze Friday will still push a few isolated thunderstorms inland and south of Interstate 4 beginning around 2 p.m., but those storms could be few and far between as rain chances stay around 30 percent.
RELATED: Hurricane Florence makes landfall, brings 'catastrophic' flooding to Carolinas
Saturday will bring even stronger westerly winds as Florence moves southwest across the Carolinas, further drying out the bay area and reducing rain chances to 20 percent on Saturday and Sunday. With Florence expected to break up over land and turn toward the north sometime Sunday, seasonal rain patterns should return to the area by Tuesday.
While the weekend will be a respite from rain, seasonal temperatures will remain normal, with highs in the low 90s and overnight lows in the mid 70s.
Looking out at the tropics, Isaac has been downgraded to a tropical depression in the Caribbean, while Joyce and Helene, two tropical storms in the east Atlantic, are expected to steer well clear of the U.S.
As Hurricane Florence makes landfall in North Carolina, the rest of the tropics remains very active. Isaac has weakened to a tropical depression in the eastern Caribbean. Joyce and Helene are both tropical storms and are forecast to stay well away from the US. e_SClBpic.twitter.com/R8TzFod8Ud— NWS Tampa Bay (@NWSTampaBay) September 14, 2018
As Hurricane Florence makes landfall in North Carolina, the rest of the tropics remains very active. Isaac has weakened to a tropical depression in the eastern Caribbean. Joyce and Helene are both tropical storms and are forecast to stay well away from the US. e_SClBpic.twitter.com/R8TzFod8Ud
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Daniel Figueroa IV can be reached at dfigueroa@tampabay.com. Follow @danuscripts