Forecast: Tropical moisture will contribute to rainy afternoons across Tampa Bay

The Tampa Bay area will experience something that it hasn't seen in this recent stretch of dry, searing conditions.

Rain and — in some instances — plenty of it.

Some areas across the region experienced those familiar brief summer afternoon downpours on Wednesday, and clouds continue to linger into Thursday morning. It remains relatively uncomfortable, with wake-up temperatures starting off in the mid to upper 70s with elevated humidity contributing to the sticky feel. Highs again will reach 90, under mostly cloudy skies, with a 20 percent chance of an isolated shower or thunderstorm starting along the coast and heading inland.

The National Weather Service expects similar conditions on Friday, but things begin to change pretty drastically starting on Saturday and heading into next week.

That's when a strong mass of tropical moisture from the south, along with an upper-level trough trough in the southern Plains, make their way into the southeast and swept into the region by the afternoon sea breeze.

Forecasters say this will result in rain totals of 2-5 inches from the Nature Coast to the north over the next seven days, although not quite as severe in the immediate Tampa Bay area.

However, the chance of mainly afternoon thunderstorms off the gulf jumps to 80 percent on Saturday, and continues into next week, with brisk southerly breezes and cloud cover keeping highs just below 90, forecasters said.

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Contact Carl Lisciandrello at clisciandrello@tampabay.com. Follow @carlmarks_Times