Heavy rain and flooding continue to threaten southern parts of Florida, potentially leading to as much as a foot of rain before it finally clears up by mid-week.

A slow-moving trough of low pressure is drawing up rich, tropical moisture and leading to heavy rain and strong thunderstorms repetitively over the same areas. That continues this weekend’s rainfall across the region, which led to almost four inches of rain in Miami (3.83″, to be exact) on Sunday alone.

Rainfall rates could be as high as “2 to 4 inches per hour in some of the heavier activity” the National Weather Service office in Miami wrote in their forecast discussion on Monday morning. The worst of the rain is expected to fall on Monday and Tuesday.

Flash Flood Watches are in place for much of south Florida through Tuesday. Those include Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando and much of the Space and Treasure Coasts of central and southern parts of the Sunshine State.

Thunderstorms could also be part of the equation, including the possibility for damaging winds and perhaps a brief tornado or waterspout. Cloud-to-ground lightning will be frequent with some of the heavier rain bands. Needless to say, unfortunately, Memorial Day and Tuesday are looking like indoor days across the area.

In response to already saturated grounds and the possibility for yet more inundating rainfall on Tuesday, the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) has issued a moderate risk for flooding along much of Florida’s eastern coastline for Tuesday. That’s the second-highest risk for flooding the WPC has.

By the time the system winds down by Wednesday, computer model forecasts indicate that as much as 10 inches of additional rainfall could come down. The highest risk zones will be south of Interstate 4 and concentrated along the heavily-populated southeast Florida counties of Broward, Dade and Palm Beach.

Remember, if you come up to a water-covered roadway, turn around, don’t drown! It could save your life, and there will likely be scenarios where that advice will be needed across south Florida over the next few days.

The good news? There is (sun) light at the end of this grey tunnel. By Wednesday, conditions should start to improve as the main bulk of the activity shifts north. Scattered pop-up afternoon and early evening showers and storms will become the – the norm for south Florida this time of the year.

Stay with WeatherNation for the latest on the Florida rainfall.