Weather disturbance over Cuba not expected to develop

A weather disturbance over western Cuba has subsided after sparking concern this weekend among meteorologists that it could develop into a subtropical cyclone.

Scientists with the National Hurricane Center said today there is near-zero percent chance of the system developing over the next 48 hours.

Still, it is expected to dump lots of rain on portions of Cuba, the Florida Keys and parts of South Florida.

The local implications: little change in the day to day weather patterns, except maybe for occasional showers in the Tampa region for the next few days.

"During the weekend, we were watching an area of disturbed weather near Cuba," said Leigh Spann, meteorologist with News Channel 8. "There was a potential for it to develop into a subtropical system of some kind."

She said while that chance is now low, rain will come to the southern parts of the states, part of the low pressure system moving northeast at about 15 mph.

"Due to the counter-clockwise flow around that low, we will see mostly cloudy skies and a few showers rotating in from the southeast at time," she said this morning. "Our rain chance is 30 percent and we are also dealing with higher humidity today."

She said a weak cold front will push south into the Tampa Bay area Tuesday.

"We won't get any cooler air from this front," she said, "but it will help push that disturbance into the Atlantic Ocean. Our rain chance goes down to 20 percent on Tuesday. It still will be warm with highs in the upper 70s to near 80 degrees."

Lows on Tuesday morning will dip to the low 60s, according to forecasters with the National Weather Service in Ruskin.

Tuesday will bring partly sunny skies with slight chances of showers in the afternoon, and that forecast holds for Wednesday. By Thursday, rain chances in the Bay area rise to 40 percent around nightfall. By Friday, the chance of rain drops to 20 percent.