FORT PIERCE, Fla. — If it feels like the skies over the Treasure Coast have been especially unforgiving lately, you're not imagining it.
A stretch of heavy rain, lightning, and the threat of severe storms has settled over the region — and a local meteorologist says residents should brace for more through midweek before conditions finally begin to ease.
Derrick Weitlich, a meteorologist with The National Weather Service in Melbourne, says the unsettled stretch traces back to last Friday, when a cold front approached the area and kicked off an increase in atmospheric moisture.
"That kind of started off an increase in moisture, just leading to daily showers and storms, especially along our sea breeze boundaries," Weitlich said. "That's just kind of been a continuation again since last Friday."
The pattern has brought more than just rain. Weitlich warned that strong to isolated severe storms remain possible, with all the hallmarks of a serious weather event in play.
"We have seen just enough instability, and the pattern has been favorable for some strong to isolated severe storms across the area," he said, noting threats including wind gusts of 40 to 60 miles per hour, hail up to an inch in diameter, and the possibility of a brief tornado or two.
Frequent lightning and localized flooding from heavy downpours round out the hazards.
A second front moving into the area is expected to keep rain chances elevated through Wednesday. After that, Weitlich says, conditions should gradually improve.
"The front kind of starts shifting southward. We get a little bit more drier air, and rain chances start to decrease into the weekend," he said. Rain chances drop to around 20 percent for Martin County by Thursday and Friday, nudging up only slightly to 20 to 30 percent over the weekend.
For those wondering whether the stormy stretch signals anything about the approaching hurricane season, Weitlich offered some reassurance.
"This doesn't really give any indication of what we'll see for the hurricane season," he said. "This was just a normal pattern and is kind of actually typical for May."
He explained that once the region transitions fully into its wet season — marked by daily sea-breeze-generated storms rather than frontal systems