Walt Disney World and the wider state of Florida are bracing for heavy rain as a potential hurricane approaches from the Gulf of Mexico.
The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on June 1 and as if on cue a troubling weather pattern emerged over the Gulf of Mexico.
The storm is expected to cause heavy rain, thunderstorms and strong winds that started on Wednesday and will last through the weekend.
For the next few days at least the Sunshine State will not be living up to its name.
The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1 through November 30. During this time tropical or subtropical cyclones are likely to form over the North Atlantic.
Parts of Florida saw up to ten inches of rain last week.
The National Hurricane Centre has given the tropical disturbance a 10 per cent chance to develop into a more severe storm over the next two days and 20 per cent over the next seven days.
“Regardless of development, the system could produce heavy rainfall and gusty winds over portions of the Florida Peninsula later this week,” the NHC said.
The weather system is slowly spinning over the easter Gulf of Mexico before it is expected to move onshore for the weekend before passing over to the Atlantic early next week.
FOX Weather senior digital meteorologist Brian Donegan said: “A low-pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico must always be monitored for possible tropical development this time of year.
“While the odds of a tropical depression or storm forming are low, this system is still expected to provide a surge of tropical moisture to Florida late this week and into the weekend, regardless of development.”
The most intense rain is expected to fall across portions of Central and South Florida hitting the cities of Tampa, Orlando and Miami.
Areas like Tampa and Sarasota on the western side of the state, as well as West Palm Beach, Miami, and Homestead in South Florida, could see 3 to 5 inches of rain on Saturday
There is also the threat of flash floods until Friday.
With the huge amounts of rain there is hope it will alleviate the drought conditions of the state.
Except much of the recent rain has been centred on the southwestern areas while areas of the state's west coast are still extremely dry.
FOX Weather meteorologist Jason Frazer said: “I mean, look at Tampa, Sarasota, the St. Petersburg area.
“You are on a Category 4 out of 5 (drought). And whenever we talk about a Category 4 out of 5 here, I mean, we’re talking about some of the worst here.”
Tampa needs about 2 to 3 inches more rain to ease a lot of the drought conditions in that area.
