If the current forecast holds for Hurricane Ike, the worst of the storm will stay offshore from the Tampa Bay area.

Still, the hurricane’s passage through the Gulf of Mexico will probably put an end to the dry air that’s hovered over the area because of Ike and Tropical Storm Hanna.

Rain chances will go up, possibly as early as Monday night and into Tuesday, depending on how close Ike comes and how fast the storm moves. The storm will sweep more moisture over all of West Central Florida.

Ike could also kick winds up a bit. We might see effects similar to Hurricane Gustav’s passage.

All that changes if Ike twitches a bit farther north and the uncertainty in the forecast is why officials ordered an evacuation of the Florida Keys, even though Ike is supposed to stay over Cuba.

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