ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — If you haven't heard yet, it's about to get cold! We are tracking a strong cold front that will spill arctic air south across the eastern United States just in time for Christmas weekend. It could be cold enough to cause falling iguanas across Florida!
When does the cold air arrive?
Right now, the front is expected to sweep across the Tampa Bay area late Thursday night into Friday morning. Highs on Friday will likely be during the morning hours with dropping temperatures into the afternoon as cold air pours south behind the front.
Temperatures will continue to drop Friday night into Saturday morning. Christmas Eve morning (Saturday) will likely be the coldest part of this air mass for central Florida. Christmas Day will be cold also, but will be a touch warmer compared to Christmas Eve.
How cold is it going to get?
While this isn't expected to be record breaking cold, it will still be some of the coldest air of the season.
Christmas Eve:
Lows will likely be in the 20s and 30s across the area waking up on Saturday. Sub freezing temperatures will be possible and it is likely Freeze watches and warnings will be issued going into the holiday weekend.
Wind chill advisories will also be possible with a breeze out of the north making it feel like the upper teens to low 20s in the morning!
Highs on Christmas Eve will only be in the 40s to low 50s. That's a good 20 degrees below average.
Christmas Day:
Only a bit warmer on Sunday. Lows will start off in the 30s around Tampa Bay with the coldest air north and inland.
Highs on Christmas Day should get into the low 50s across most of the area — a few degrees warmer than Saturday.
What will it be like across the rest of the country?
We know that if it's that cold here it will be much colder off the the north. Most of the eastern half of the states will see temperatures 20 degrees below average for the weekend.
Northern states could see highs in the single digits and lows well below zero! Below-freezing temperatures will spread all the way down to the Gulf Coast. Parts of the Florida panhandle could see lows in the 20s Saturday morning.
On Sunday, Christmas Day, the cold air will still be firmly in place across the U.S. but it will start to moderate as the coldest of the air lifts into Canada. Still, sub-freezing morning lows will be possible all the way down to the Gulf Coast. Below-zero lows and wind chills will continue across the northern half of the country.
When was Tampa's coldest Christmas?
Tampa Stats:
Record cold high: 38 degrees (1938)
Record cold low: 20 degrees (1938)
