Good morning, Tampa Bay! If you’re stepping out the door early this Friday morning, we’ve got another mild, pleasant start across the area. Temperatures are sitting comfortably in the lower 70s under partly cloudy skies, and while that stubborn northeast breeze is still stirring around 10 to 12 mph, it’s not packing quite the same punch it did earlier in the week. Today will be fantastic with partly sunny skies, highs reaching right around 86 degrees, and only a tiny 10% to 20% chance of a stray sprinkle. But with a huge weekend of football and Halloween festivities on tap, let’s dial in the hour-by-hour details for Raymond James Stadium and neighborhood sidewalks.
Saturday kicks off with the USF Bulls hosting UAB at noon, and if you’re heading out early to tailgate, expect warm, muggy conditions with temperatures climbing quickly from the upper 70s at 9:00 AM into the mid-80s by kickoff. With weak ridging holding on and a light east-northeast breeze around 10 mph, the sun will feel intense in the stands. We’ll see a few clouds bubble up through the second half, along with an isolated 20% to 30% chance of a pop-up shower around the stadium, but nothing that should wash out the game.
By Saturday evening for trick-or-treating, conditions look very cooperative, though you won’t need to bundle up the kids in heavy layers. Between 6:00 PM and 8:30 PM, temperatures will slowly slide from around 80 degrees down into the mid-70s with dew points hovering near 70, keeping that classic Florida mugginess around. The wind will have completely backed off to around 5 to 8 mph. While a stray passing shower can’t be ruled out entirely (rain chances sit near 20%), the vast majority of neighborhoods will stay completely dry.
Sunday brings our next approaching cold front, and the timing looks to set up a slightly wetter afternoon for the Bucs as they take on the Falcons at Raymond James. For the 1:00 PM kickoff, expect partly to mostly cloudy skies with temperatures peaking in the mid-80s. Moisture pools ahead of that boundary, bumping rain chances up to around 40% to 50% for scattered showers and a few isolated thunderstorms developing during the afternoon. If you have tickets, definitely pack a poncho just in case a passing downpour sweeps across the pirate ship before the front clears everything out heading into next week!
