Bradenton storms unrelated to Dorian could make it easier for hurricane to down trees
Ahead of Hurricane Dorian, the Bradenton area will see prolonged rainfall throughout the weekend. With intense wind on the way, that combination could spell trouble.
A series of storms began impacting Manatee County on Friday night, but those storms weren’t related to the hurricane that is expected to make landfall on the east coast of Florida at the beginning of the week.
Those showers are likely to continue Saturday, as well, according to a local forecast from the National Weather Service. The weather should remain mostly sunny until about 2 p.m., when the area is expected to receive a 60 percent chance of rain after 2 p.m.
On Sunday, showers and thunderstorms are expected to continue between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Chances of storms return after 2 p.m. and continue into the night.
Manatee County public safety officials are already warning residents that the rainfall is saturating the ground, which could lead to dangerous conditions that make trees more likely to fall over once wind speeds start to pick up.
But residents won’t start to feel the wind effects of Dorian until Sunday night or Monday, which is when tropical storm conditions are possible. At that time, speeds are expected to hit 30 mph, with gusts as high as 55 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
