ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — If our weather pattern has felt like a broken record, you’re not wrong!
As of March 30, the entire month of March has only picked up a trace of rain, while temperatures have climbed “above-normal” 27 out of the last 30 days!
Needless to say, this stagnant weather pattern has already driven us toward the 2nd warmest March on record in Tampa history. And believe it or not, we’re already on our way for March 2020 to tie the driest on record!
Thankfully, changes are on the way! By the middle of this week, a cold front will slide through central Florida, sending some rain chances and cooler weather our way.
Now, don’t get too excited. While rain chances are in the forecast, this will bring with it a small and rather unimpressive rain chance, but it is much-needed. The brief time window we’ll be eyeing the radar will be late Tuesday evening and overnight through Wednesday morning.
This will then be followed by a drop in temperatures by about 5-10 degrees by Wednesday and Thursday.
Why is the rain so needed right now? Well, nearly 90 percent of the state is currently in the “abnormally dry” category, a precursor to drought. This is the driest the state has been since March 2017.
Even if we manage to see 0.01” of rain or more this week, it will be the first time Tampa has seen any measurable rain since February 2020.
The good news? This isn’t our only chance for rain in the immediate forecast. We are seeing some early indication of low rain chances returning next weekend. However, models are beginning to back off and delay a system that could help ring in April with decent rain chances.
Stay tuned with the 10Weather team on any changes through this week.
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