The remnants of Tropical Storm Fred could bring heavy rain to our area. Rain chances will increase across our region late today and will continue through Wednesday as the storm tracks northward towards Tennessee, bringing tropical moisture into the area.

Rainfall is expected to be heavy at times and that could cause flooding and flash flooding. The heaviest rains should occur Tuesday night into Wednesday. The threat of localized flooding is possible, despite recent dry conditions.

The National Hurricane Center said Fred regained its tropical storm status in the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday just hours before Grace was demoted to a tropical depression. A new tropical depression also formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday night.

Fred was forecast to move across the Gulf and reach the coast as early as Monday afternoon, forecasters said. They said people from Alabama to the central Florida Panhandle should monitor the system’s progress.

A tropical storm warning is now in effect for the coast of the Florida Panhandle from Navarre to the Wakulla/Jefferson County line, meaning tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area in the next 24 hours. A storm surge warning has been issued for part of Florida’s Big Bend area. That’s the spot on the Gulf Coast where the Florida peninsula turns west into the Panhandle.