Tornado watch issued for 14 Florida counties, National Weather Service says

A tornado watch remained in effect for 14 counties in central Florida Monday night, the National Weather Service said.

Brevard, Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands, Indian River, Lee, Manatee, Martin, Okeechobee, Osceola, Polk, Saint Lucie and Sarasota were the affected counties.

National Weather Service meteorologist Robert Garcia told FoxNews.com that the watch was first issued shortly before 1 p.m. ET, and originally included 23 counties. The affected area has received between 1 to 3 inches of rain, and a severe thunderstorm was reported earlier in the day in the Tampa area.

Garcia said the watch could be extended depending on conditions, adding that the weather service had released a weather balloon earlier in the evening to get a sense of atmospheric conditions.

No fatalities or injuries were reported, he added.

More rain was expected overnight, with thunderstorms possible, but Garcia said conditions were expected to dry up beginning Tuesday morning. Temperatures in the area were expected to dip into the 50s overnight, and will creep back into the 70s throughout the state, he said.

FoxNews.com's Karl de Vries contributed to this report.