Unseasonably humid air has overspread the Florida Panhandle Tuesday morning and it may be enough to create an environment supportive of a few strong thunderstorms during the day.
The dew point temperature -- a measure of how humid the air feels -- is near 70 degrees over much of the Panhandle. These dew point temperatures are more typical of late spring or early summer. Warm air in the lower part of the atmosphere and weak upper air disturbances combined with the high humidity will make the air unstable. Wind shear, or an increase in wind speeds as one goes up in the atmosphere, could be strong enough to produce a few organized storm cells capable of damaging gusts.
Storms developed over Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties early Tuesday morning. These storms should form eastward to near Panama City and Marianna by midday, are likely to reach the Tallahassee area by late afternoon. The thunderstorms are expected to weaken after 8 PM.
The absence of a strong, better-defined weather system will likely limit the number of severe storm reports, but residents are encouraged to have a way to receive weather warnings Tuesday into early Tuesday evening.