Tropical Storm Sara is bringing catastrophic flash flooding to Honduras now but Lee County residents should only expect to see the remnants of the storm by the time the weather system reaches the Gulf Coast Wednesday. Up to three inches of rain and thunderstorms are possible for Lee County, the National Weather Service is predicting.

Some flooding – in the low-lying barrier islands such as in Fort Myers Beach are possible as is the possibility of a tornado, but a tropical storm isn’t likely, National Weather Service meteorologist Austin Flannery said.

Flannery said the storm is currently “hugging the coastline” north of Honduras around the Yucatan Peninsula but is expected to move slowly and dissipate by Sunday.

Flannery said the National Weather Service is confident in its models which project the storm to weaken by Sunday, by which time it will no longer be considered a tropical storm. “It will have spent so much time overland, it will dissipate,” Flannery said.

By early Wednesday, the weather system should move into Southwest Florida. “Wednesday is going to be a pretty stormy day and there is a potential for thunderstorms. Two to three inches is pretty reasonable (to expect) for Southwest Florida,” Flannery said.

“There could be a potential for severe weather,” he said. The cold weather front will be favorable to thunderstorms.

The bad weather is projected to start early Wednesday morning and linger for around six hours, Flannery said. “In low-lying, poor drainage areas there could be a short window of flooding,” he said. “It won’t be any different than some of the summer downpours.”

Flannery said the current outlook is dependent on Tropical Storm Sara dissipating over the Yucatan Peninsula. “Our confidence is increasing,” he said. Flannery said the potential for Sara to continue on as a tropical storm past Sunday is “not a very likely scenario.”