Bay area spared; South Florida hit with severe weather

[A school bus makes its morning rounds as dawn lightens the sky over Spring Bayou in Tarpon Springs Wednesday morning. Jim Damaske | Times]
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TAMPA BAY -- A jet stream's shift to the southeast spared the Tampa Bay area of severe weather but left parts of rural South Florida to absorb the brunt of the overnight storms, forecasters said.

The National Weather Service in Ruskin canceled the tornado watch for the bay area at 4 a.m. The tornado watch for parts of South Florida remains in effect until 7 a.m.

The unstable air mass hovering above the Tampa Bay area was undercut by a low-level jet stream that carried toward the southeast, bringing severe weather to rural parts of the state. Severe damage was reported in Everglades City, and radar indicated tornado touchdowns in the Everglades and Big Cypress area, said National Weather Service meteorologist Rick Davis.

"We're lucky the dynamics shifted slightly," Davis said.

Although the Tampa Bay area was spared any severe weather, Davis said a line of showers moving toward the coast boosts the chance of rain to 60 percent this morning and again in the afternoon. Weak thunderstorms also are possible.

Forecasters said we can expect "cooler, drier and breezier" conditions this evening, giving way to a dry and sunny Thursday.

- Casey Cora, Times staff writer