Sea surface temperatures are warm enough for tropical development, but the FOX Forecast Center warns that hostile higher-level winds will work to keep significant development at bay over the next week.

DEATH TOLL RISE ABOVE 200 A WEEK AFTER HELENE DECIMATES SOUTHEASTERN COMMUNITIES

How much rain is expected?

Forecast models show the heaviest rainfall is expected to occur from the Interstate 4 corridor and southward, where a widespread area could see 4 to 6 inches of rain over the next week.

A look at the flash flood threat in Florida from Sunday to Tuesday.

(FOX Weather)

Because much of the rain will spread over several days, widespread flooding is not expected, but if thunderstorms repeatedly pass over the same region, problems could arise.

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The expected affected region is further south of where Hurricane Helene made landfall last week, so the hardest-hit areas of the Big Bend won’t receive as much rainfall as locations like Fort Myers, Orlando, Tampa and Miami.

“At the very least, rain will be expected for much of the Florida peninsula late this weekend into next week,” Norcross said. “And we look forward to the possibility of more southern development, and we’ll see what happens with that.”

In addition to the rainfall, the rough seas will also lead to the threat of increased currents and erosion along beaches – a pattern that will continue well into next week.

FLORIDA ALLIGATOR TAKES A BREAK IN RAINY WEATHER TO SUNBATH ON A BEACH

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If no tropical development occurs, will hurricane season be over?

If a tropical cyclone – whether a tropical depression, tropical storm or hurricane – does not form in the current area of ​​disturbed weather, that does not mean the hurricane season for the eastern Gulf of Mexico is over.

Waters in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf remain warm enough for development, and October is typically the month with the most landfalls in South Florida.

According to NOAA historical data, more than 60% of landfalls in the region occur after the climatological peak of the hurricane season, September 10.

The last date a hurricane ever hit the Sunshine State was November 21, when Hurricane Kate slammed into the Florida Panhandle in 1985.

The National Hurricane Center continues to monitor Hurricane Kirk in the central Atlantic and Tropical Storm Leslie in the eastern Atlantic, but neither poses an immediate threat to landmasses over the next week.

There is also a new disturbance off the coast of Africa that is being monitored.