Thoughts and Musings for a Potentially Stormy Saturday

Saturday, September 5, 2026 – Orlando, Florida

Hi, everyone — greetings from the sauna-with-palm-trees portion of Central Florida.

It’s a hot, muggy early-autumn day here in my corner of Orange County. It’s almost noon, and the temperature has already climbed to 88°F (31°C) under partly sunny skies. Add 75% humidity and a 4 MPH (6 Km/H) west-southwest breeze that is doing its best impression of a ceiling fan on low, and the heat index lands at a very Florida 103°F (39°C). Today’s forecast calls for scattered light rain showers throughout the afternoon, with a high of 92°F (33°C).

As often happens in this part of the Western Hemisphere, yesterday’s forecast was almost a carbon copy of today’s: hot, humid, and seasoned with scattered light rain showers — Florida’s meteorological house blend.

Well, it was hot and sticky for most of the day, but the meteorologists missed one small detail in their predictions: instead of “light rain showers,” we got a strong — mercifully short-lived — line of thunderstorms that barged through the area in the early evening hours.

So, I’m sure you’ll understand why I’m a bit skeptical about the “scattered light rain showers” bit in the prognostication for this first weekend of what passes for fall in the subtropical zone. The atmosphere is stuffed with moisture, and Florida’s geography — aided and abetted by warmer temperatures linked to global warming — can turn a so-so sprinkle forecast into a pop-up audition for Noah’s Ark, complete with torrential downpours and lightning-bearing thunderstorms.

I’m hoping the meteorologists’ forecast proves accurate — but I won’t be placing any bets, folding money, or even spare change on it. I’ve seen too many thunderstorms materialize out of what was supposed to be “just a few sprinkles.”