Tornadoes possible as heavy rain is forecast for South Florida. When will it get nasty?

Severe thunderstorms are in Sunday’s forecast, and if we haven’t seen much rain of late despite some cold snaps — this potentially wet day is announcing itself with a bang.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch that went into effect at 7:10 Sunday morning until 2 p.m. for Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Monroe, Collier, Charlotte, Lee and Hendry counties. This means weather conditions are conducive for a tornado forming.

According to the NWS in Miami, some of Sunday’s storm’s could contain damaging wind gusts topping 35 mph, a chance for a few tornadoes, and locally heavy rainfall.

The risk areas include southeast, southern and southwest Florida and will whip waters in the Gulf of Mexico making marine activities potentially hazardous. Gale force winds and seas over 10 feet are possible. There is a high risk for rip currents along Atlantic beaches Sunday into the early week, particularly along Palm Beach County beaches.

The time frame

The storms’ arrival will most likely happen during Sunday’s late morning and afternoon. The flood risk should be limited to poor drainage areas along Southeast Florida because of the quick movement of the storms, the weather service said.

The storm chance is 90% Sunday, drops to 20% at night, and remains high at 60% Monday. The rest of the week will be sunny and breezy through Friday. Temperatures range from low to mid-70s during the days and upper 50s Monday and Tuesday nights and 60s later in the week.

Key West faces similar conditions all week with storm chances just a notch below the rest of South Florida — 80% Sunday and 50% Monday, for instance.

Winds increase Sunday to gusts near 30 mph and remain gusty early next week, particularly on Tuesday as they reach the 35 mph range.