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Morning Thunderstorms Herald Chilly Temperatures

TBO.com photo by KEVIN BRADY

Rainclouds blanket downtown Tampa Sunday morning as a cold front rolls in.

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 1, 2009

Updated: 03/01/2009 08:36 am

Two lines of rain heading toward the Tampa Bay area today could generate some potent thunderstorms during the morning with the chance of rain lingering through the early afternoon.

Wind, hitting a sustained 20 to 30 mph, should be around all day, only dropping off a bit around midnight, the National Weather Service says.

The first line with the most potential for some thunderstorms and winds gusting to 50 mph should be through most of Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas by the middle of the morning.

Just before 8 a.m., the highest gusts were about 34 mph, the weather service says.

The second line of rain, probably without the thunderstorms, is moving at about 35 mph and should clear most of the Tampa Bay area by early afternoon, forecasters say. Rain that arrives may be heavy, but not likely to last long.

But the wind will remain through the day. Though it will diminish around midnight, the wind won't disappear and combined with temperatures around 40 or below, could be a distinct reminder Monday morning that it is still winter.

The wind and rain are at the vanguard of a cold front heading toward Florida. Temperatures will drop tonight and a freeze in Levy County isn't out of the question, forecasters say.

The more intense cold that could drop temperatures in eastern Hillsborough and Pasco close to freezing should show up Monday night.

At this point, the weather service is not forecasting freezing temperatures in eastern Hillsborough, but temperatures are expected to fall to within a few degrees of freezing.

Forecasters expect temperatures to fall below freezing Monday and Tuesday nights across Hernando and Citrus counties.

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