December is typically one of the driest months of the year, averaging about 2.50" of rain across most of central Florida. Over the last 24 hours, parts of the area have seen almost double that! That's right, after a very dry stretch of weather over the last several weeks, heavy rain returned to central Florida Monday with some of the heaviest right along the coast.

A couple of things were responsible for Monday's heavy rain: first, a stationary front that has more-or-less been wobbling across the area over the last 5 days set up right along the I-4 corridor. This produced rising air in the atmosphere and served as a focus for some of the heavy rain. Also, with high pressure to the north, a northeast flow off of the Atlantic brought in a supply of moisture from the Ocean. If that wasn't enough, an upper level disturbance moved across the area providing some extra lift and -- yes, there's more! -- an area of low pressure developed along the Brevard coast funneling more moisture into the area.

Add it all up, what did we get? How about 4-6"+ of rain across coastal Flagler and Volusia Counties! Officially, the airport in Palm Coast reported a bit over 2" but, with very narrow heavy rain bands, just north of the airport a viewer had over half a foot of rain. Farther down the coast, in Daytona Beach, almost 2.50" fell on Monday, setting a new record for the date. Keep in mind, the average December rainfall in Daytona Beach is about 2.60"! Farther south, still, areas of heavy rain continue to move onshore in Brevard County around a weakening area of low pressure along the south coast of Florida. Rain will diminish overnight but we'll be left with lots of low clouds and areas of fog.

The outlook is a much brighter one as we move toward mid-week. Tuesday is the transition day with breezy weather and a 20% chance of coastal showers before we're dry Wednesday and Thursday with highs pushing to near 80 degrees.

Have a great night!

Brian Monahan