It looks like West Central Florida will be in the right place for a pretty active afternoon of storms as the dregs of a dying cold front sag across the region this afternoon. That, combined with the usual heating, plentiful moisture and sea breezes, will stir things up even more than on a normal day.

The rain is moving off the Gulf during the morning. It should continue through the day.

The weather service says the drooping front will reach West Central Florida this afternoon around the time of maximum heating.

That sets up a good chance for some strong thunderstorms, hail and high winds. At least the hail should be small, the weather service says.

To make things more interesting for the Gulf, from the Tampa Bay area north, the mixing of the front increases the chance for water spouts. This always happens when the storms move off the Gulf in the morning like they are today.

The forecast doesn’t seem to favor either coastal or inland areas, so it looks like everyone has about the same chance of seeing some storms, especially later in the day when decaying thunderstorm cells spawn new storms.

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