ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It's feeling a lot like summer right now, despite us still being in the early days of spring. But that's Florida for you.
This week is setting up to be very warm and dry, with high temperatures flirting with the low 90s as the days move forward. Although there are few chances for rain, the trade-off is plenty of sunshine.
Highs will be in the upper 80s starting Monday and then continue to warm into the lower 90s by Wednesday. This means we'll also see near-record high temperatures all through this week. Those records are 89 degrees for each day this weekend except Friday.
We are forecasting highs right near 90 degrees, so we have a chance at setting a new record most of this week through Saturday!
Here are the record and forecast highs for this week:
- Monday: Forecast 87 Record 91 (2017)
- Tuesday: Forecast 89 Record 88 (1947)
- Wednesday: Forecast 91 Record 89 (1964)
- Thursday: Forecast 91 Record 89 (1999)
- Friday: Forecast 90 Record 90 (1947)
- Saturday: Forecast 90 Record 89 (1947)
- Sunday: Forecast 86 Record 90 (1948)
But don't count on rain bringing any relief. While this weekend may bring small chances for rain, it won't do much for the Tampa Bay area's drought conditions. Some areas might see a few sprinkles throughout the week, but it won't be significant.
Last week, most of the Tampa Bay area was upgraded to "severe" drought conditions. That is an increase from a level one to a level two out of four. If the drought continues to worsen, we could see it move into extreme or exceptional drought.
Now that we're in a severe drought, possible impacts to our area include crop or pasture losses, water shortages and water restrictions. The lack of rain and drought conditions also increases the fire risk across the area.
Most of the area from Central Florida to Southwest Florida is experiencing a severe drought. However, the worst conditions are south of us near Lee and Collier counties, where "extreme" drought conditions have been reported.
This is also in an area with a lot of dead vegetation from Hurricane Ian. The dead blowdown debris and dry conditions mean that wildfire risks will be elevated until the rainy season.
Because there are still so few chances for rain in the Tampa Bay area, drought conditions are expected to spread and worsen across central and southern Florida.
