TAMPA, Fla. — Get ready for a busy period of weather over the next few days. Let's start with today. The next arctic front is moving through. Expect a few showers and pockets of heavy rain as the front rolls by, but the bulk of the rain is out of here after 12 p.m.
Sunshine returns this afternoon, but so do the strong winds. Expect wind gusts over 30 mph at times this afternoon. That, combined with our ongoing drought and humidity levels dropping, could set the stage for a high fire risk. Northern spots are in a Fire Weather Warning this afternoon. If a fire gets started, conditions will allow it to spread rapidly.
Monday, we'll start with morning temps in the 30s and 40s! We were in the low 70s this morning. The gusty winds continue and that will give us wind chills below 40 for many, so a Cold Weather Advisory is in effect tomorrow morning.
Monday afternoon, the high fire danger continues. A Fire Weather Watch is in effect area-wide, which will be upgraded to a Warning later today. Fires that develop will spread very fast given how dry things are, even with some of us seeing some rain today.
Tuesday morning, it's going to be cold. A Freeze Watch is in effect for everyone except the coast from Pasco County South. Temperatures will fall into the upper 20s and low 30s for the coldest spots. Wind chills will drop into the 20s.
Wednesday morning will be cold as well, but by the afternoon, a warm-up begins. Thursday, we'll see highs back above average into the upper 70s to around 80 for the warm spots.