ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — From the fall foliage up north to people dawning sweatshirts and flannels, it seems like everyone across the country except for Florida has been able to get a taste of fall.
Even some places across the Midwest have been dealt an early taste of winter with a good helping of snow.
The same plunge of cooler-than-normal air invading the Midwest is what is on its way behind a cold front that will sweep through Tampa Bay into Tuesday afternoon. An increase in moisture ahead of the front will result in mostly cloudy skies and a few showers but once the front moves through, the rain chances will drop and the cooler and drier air will begin to push in.
The initial indication that the front is pushing through will be that the winds will begin to shift to the north and increase to between 10-15 mph.
The breezier conditions, combined with the drier air pushing south, will set the stage for the cooler air to follow.
High temperatures Tuesday peaked in the low 80s, but that will be around lunchtime. Once the front pushes south, temperatures will return to the 70s and then gradually cool through the evening and continue to drop overnight before bottoming out in the low-middle 50s across most of Tampa Bay.
The Nature Coast will likely see temperatures settle in the middle 40s.
The push of cooler air will continue through the day on Wednesday and despite increasing sunshine, temperatures will struggle to climb out of the 60s for much of the area. Temperatures may briefly climb to 70 degrees, but with breezy conditions, it'll definitely feel like the 60s for the entire day.
This first taste of Florida fall may be a little bit of a shock to the system for some especially coming off of Tampa's warmest summer on record. A high temperature of 70 degrees would be the coolest since March 13. In fact, if temperatures don't climb out of the 60s it could end up being the coolest day since Feb. 14.
Wednesday night will actually feature even cooler temperatures. As the winds begin to relax, temperatures will be able to cool a little more efficiently overnight, allowing overnight lows to drop into the low 50s in Tampa Bay and low-middle 40s in the Nature Coast.
Some isolated inland areas of Citrus and Hernando County could see temperatures dip into the upper 30s.
After Thursday morning, temperatures will then gradually warm with highs in the middle 70s Thursday afternoon and then low 80s with plenty of sunshine through this weekend.
Temperatures don't look to return to normal until next Monday when highs are forecast to return to 85 degrees.
