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Winter Blast Expected

Tribune photo by JAY NOLAN

A rowing team practiced in heavy fog in downtown Tampa on Monday.

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 31, 2007

Updated: 12/31/2007 02:52 pm

TAMPA - A powerful blast of cold air could send temperatures on Thursday morning into the low 20s in Hillsborough County, into the teens in Pasco and possibly a rare freeze in Pinellas.

The National Weather Service forecast calls for temperatures to fall to the middle 20s in and around Tampa and low 20s in eastern Hillsborough on Thursday morning and dip to the teens in Hernando County and eastern Pasco County.

Pinellas could see 31 degrees.

The wind chill could be in the teens over Hillsborough and Pasco and plummet to single digits in Hernando. The wind chill in Pinellas is forecast to be 21 degrees.

In the current forecast, temperatures should be freezing or below for more than seven hours or longer.

The first taste of cold should start rolling in Tuesday as the mass of frigid air heads across the state. The first shot of cold will bring a chill to Tampa and Hillsborough on Wednesday morning, with temperatures in the middle 30s. Eastern Hillsborough can expect temperatures close to freezing.

The weather service has issued a freeze warning across Pasco and Hernando counties from 3 to 8 a.m. Wednesday. A freeze warning means there is a possibility of three of more hours of temperatures between 27 and 32 degrees.

The real cold, though, is forecast to arrive Thursday morning.

The weather service said temperatures on Tuesday should peak early in the day and continue to fall as the cold air moves across the state. A brisk wind will come with the front, and the high may only reach the 60s.

On Wednesday, as more cold air rolls over the region, temperatures in the day may reach only into the 50s.

The widespread freezing weather would arrive on Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.

The last freeze in Tampa was Jan. 24, 2005, when the temperature at Tampa International Airport was 31.

The last times temperatures fell as low as forecasters expect for Thursday was Jan. 24, 2003, when TIA was 27 degrees and Feb. 5, 1996, when the low there was 25 degrees.

The record low in Tampa for Jan. 3 is 26 degrees, set in 1928.

Here's a breakdown of the timing for the freeze on Wednesday night and Thursday morning:

•Tampa: 32 degrees at 1 a.m.; 25 degrees at 6 a.m.; 30 degrees at 8 a.m.; wind chill 15 degrees at 6 a.m.

•Brandon: 32 degrees at 12 a.m.; 21 degrees at 6 a.m.; 27 degrees at 8 a.m.; wind chill 11 degrees at 6 a.m.

•Lakeland: 31 degrees at 12 a.m.; 21 degrees at 6 a.m.; 27 degrees at 8 a.m.; wind chill 12 degrees at 6 a.m.

•New Port Richey: 32 degrees at 2 a.m.; 26 degrees at 6 a.m.; 31 degrees at 8 a.m.; wind chill 15 degrees at 6 a.m.

•Dade City: 30 degrees at 12 a.m.; 19 degrees at 6 a.m.; 25 degrees at 8 a.m.; wind chill 11 degrees at 6 a.m.

•Brooksville: 31 degrees at 11 p.m.; 18 degrees at 6 a.m.; 24 degrees at 8 a.m.; wind chill 8 degrees at 6 a.m.

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