Drought Relief for Southeast Continues; More Rain In Store

Showers and storms continue across the Southeast, bringing concerns for flooding, especially across urban and low-lying areas.

But it is not all bad news: As we make our way through the weekend, the rain is expected to get less widespread. So if you see the sun, go out and enjoy it.

Here's where rain is currently falling:

Sunday

Another wet day is expected in the Southeast, with the heaviest rain focused around Alabama, southern Georgia and North Florida. This will be helpful for the drought conditions there, but could make you bring plans inside. Bring an umbrella for your after church plans, too.

Cities to see more rain than sun: Birmingham, Tallahassee, Orlando, Atlanta

Cities to see more sun than rain: Houston, Dallas, Charlotte

How Much Rain?

These totals on the map below are not too scary — only an inch or two are in the forecast for the next several days, especially along the Southeast coast. In Florida, an East Coast sea breeze weekend is likely. Have some indoor spots in mind if you're headed to the beaches or Disney.

But check out the map below, which shows the rainfall over the past 7 days. Totals have been impressive to say the least. These soils are saturated, so it will not take much rainfall to cause more flooding.

Here's The Reason

The "Omega block" is partially responsible for the stubborn rainfall, but we also have to talk about this high-pressure system sitting off the Atlantic coast. It continues to pump moisture north of the Gulf, so we have plenty of moisture.

The rain is expected to last through the weekend before a cold front comes and kicks out this stubborn pattern.

Enjoy the sun — when you see it.

Rob Shackelford is a meteorologist and climate scientist at weather.com. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees from the University of Georgia studying meteorology and experimenting with alternative hurricane forecasting tools.