Monday's Morning Drive Is the Wet One: Rain Sits Over Orlando Through the Commute, With Flooding Possible in Low-Lying Spots
The rain that soaked Central Florida on Sunday stays in place overnight and into Monday morning's commute, under a flood watch that runs through 3 p.m. — and communities north of the metro have already recorded 3 to 4 inches.
Plan for a slow, wet Monday morning. The broad area of rain that moved over Central Florida on Sunday afternoon will remain in place overnight and continue into Monday morning, forecasters at News 6 report, and the National Weather Service's flood watch for Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties runs through 3 p.m. Monday. The station's live feed puts Monday's precipitation chance at 97 percent — the wettest day of the week by a wide margin.
The flooding risk is specific, not general. Localized flooding could develop in low-lying locations, particularly north of the Orlando metro area, where some communities have already recorded 3 to 4 inches of rain. The Weather Service expects 1 to 3 inches across most of the watch area with 5 to 7 inches possible in the heaviest bands, and runoff from that much water is what puts rivers, creeks and flood-prone streets at risk. The morning's heaviest rain is expected in its first half, with scattered showers and thunderstorms affecting the commute before the rain gradually breaks apart by midmorning and turns more scattered through the afternoon.
No new closure is in effect for the morning drive — the week's FDOT night work on I-4 and SR 408 lifts before the rush, as those advisories already reported. What Monday asks of drivers is simpler and older: leave earlier, slow down on standing water, and never cross a flooded road to save a minute. Overnight lows settle near 70 degrees, and highs recover only to the upper 70s under the clouds.
