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Cold Will Return To Tampa Bay Area On Friday

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 28, 2009

TAMPA - Freezing temperatures could return to the Tampa Bay area Friday night and there's a slight chance for a second round Saturday night.

The cold coming after a front finishes moving over Florida shouldn't be as bad as the statewide freeze that hit last week, the National Weather Service says.

Forecasts expect most of Hillsborough County to be right on the edge of a freeze Friday night, with the same outlook for Polk and west Pasco.

Though the forecast temperature may be slightly above freezing, the average error for the outlook is 2 degrees, so a forecast of 33 degrees could be as low as 31 or high as 35.

However, east Pasco is expected to be in the high 20s Friday night and about 30 on Saturday night.

Temperatures in Hernando County are forecast to be about 28 degrees on both nights, the weather service says. Hernando could experience temperatures below freezing for up to five hours Friday night. Saturday night might not be quite as cold, but the forecasts are close enough to freezing that temperatures around the region could fall below 32 in places.

The front that will bring the chill should wash over West Central Florida on Thursday and stall, bringing a good chance of rain between 9 a.m. Thursday and 4 p.m. Friday, the weather service says.

Another front is expected to head our way early next week with a chance of bringing another slug of freezing temperatures, possibly by Tuesday night.

January is typically the coldest month in Tampa. Since 1890, temperatures hit freezing 101 times in January. But it happened 46 times in February. The latest date for a freeze in Tampa is March 5 in 1893.

Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at njohnson@tampatrib.com.

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