Widespread showers and storms hit Central Florida Wednesday afternoon, causing some damage and dumping heavy rain.
Thousands throughout the area were without power for several hours in Orange, Osceola, Marion, Lake, Seminole and Volusia counties, according to Duke Energy and OUC.
- Some spotty showers overnight
- Rain chances drop after Wednesday
- Temperatures in the 90s through the holiday weekend
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Just a few minutes ago in #Orlando: a powerful, gusty storm. Several counties under a severe thunderstorm warning: https://t.co/zGCbqpNh5r pic.twitter.com/erDg39BNMH
— News 13 (@MyNews13) May 24, 2017
EARLIER: Rain and strong wind moved through Walt Disney World. 📷 Ashley C. pic.twitter.com/sGmtLnFmlS
— News 13 (@MyNews13) May 24, 2017
Several parts of Central Florida saw damage, including downed tree limbs, damaged business signs and some wind damage to homes.
Apopka seemed to be the hardest hit area of Central Florida.
Faith Morse says she was scrambling to get her brothers' and sisters' bikes in from the front yard when the sky just opened up over her family’s Apopka home.
“I could not see the other side of the street because there was so much rain at once,” Morse said.
And then came the wind.
“Then my brother came out and said 'Faith you need to come in right now,'” Morse said.
Wind snapped their neighbor’s tree in half, and then blew it onto the back of their house, with mom and dad still at work.
“My mind was actually focused on keeping my little sisters calm, because they were screaming and going crazy,” Morse said.
A whole section of the tree landed in the yard, but it didn’t come from over there. Winds actually broke the tree in half and carried the entire top of the tree several yards to where it crashed down through a fence.
“I was pretty surprised when I saw the whole thing was down in our backyard,” Morse said.
It may have just been their unlucky turn to get storm damage.
“The house right next door to us has been hit by lightning and the house behind our house has been hit by lightning, but never has anything happened to our house,” Morse said.
Weather forecast for the rest of the week
The majority of the rain is gone, but a shower or two will be possible early Thursday morning as the front drops south.
Cloudy skies will continue overnight. While a lot of the rain has moved east, there will still be a few showers as we head toward daybreak. Temperatures will be warm, dropping to around 70 degrees. With the front moving through, winds will be strong with gusts over 20 mph possible.
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Once the front moves south during the morning, we’ll start to clear out for the afternoon. Expect partly sunny skies and strong winds.Highs will be a little cooler, climbing into the mid to low 80s.
Dry air will stick around for Friday and into our holiday weekend. We may see a few showers by Memorial Day, but no washout. Temperatures will start to increase back into the 90s.
Strong winds will remain Thursday afternoon and create some rough ocean conditions. A Small Craft Advisory continues through the afternoon.
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