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© Craig Rubadoux / Florida TodayLightning strikes
At one point Tuesday, meteorologists recorded at least 500 lightning strikes mostly concentrated in Suntree-Viera during a one hour period.

Storm-rattled residents will get a slight break from the intense lighting and heavy rains that rumbled through the Labor Day holiday, but weather officials are already warning that the powerful storms could return by the weekend.

"The storms in the last couple of days have been pretty unusual. We've also had a lot of heavy rain and lightning strikes. It's not been technically severe but it has been an active Labor Day weekend," said Scott Kelly, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne.

"It was an impressive lightning show but what we've also heard is that people have been getting a lot of flooding. With the storms people have been getting one or two inches of rain and they're noticing the water on the roads and in their yards, especially in Rockledge and Viera," he said.

At one point Tuesday, meteorologists recorded at least 500 lightning strikes mostly concentrated in Suntree-Viera during a one hour period of time as the intense storms rolled across Central Brevard.

No one was injured but Brevard County Fire Rescue officials reported that Tuesday's lightning - which flashed and boomed as heavy rains fell - was likely responsible for setting off a gas leak that forced several homes to be evacuated on Cypress Lake Drive in Suntree.

Anecdotally, officials say that the lightning hits were the latest in the last few weeks to strike several homes and other structures from Micco to Viera.

Today, residents will see more sun than rain, with just a 30 percent chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms expected to crop up over the Space Coast.

But weather officials say the storms - and possibly the intense lightning - will be back as rain chances increase into the weekend.

"This is the time of year where it can be wet for an extended period," Kelly said. The weather service is also reporting that the past summer was the seventh wettest on record for Brevard County, with rainfall for Melbourne reported at 6.04 inches above normal for the year.

Weather officials, who say little can be done to protect against lightning, point out that the strong storms are the result of the sea breezes colliding closer to the coastal areas rather than inland as usual.

That, coupled with mildly cooler temperatures and other weather boundaries has left behind a lot of volatility, Kelly added.

"Whether the same pattern will persist, that probably is not likely. Lightning storms are expected," Kelly said.