As we’ve been saying for a few days, a strong cold front is still expected this weekend.  

At 5 p.m., the front is just beginning to move into our area.  The first front will arrive overnight with little change.

Friday should be nice, a bit cooler and breezy.  Cooler temperatures will continue on Halloween night with winds picking up a bit.

A strong surge of cold air arrives in the pre-dawn hours on Saturday.  Gale conditions will develop over the Gulf.  Winds will increase and some coastal clouds could produce a few sprinkles.  Strong winds will arrive around dawn Saturday.  

Our temperatures might flip-flop with the highest temperature before dawn then temperatures dropping throughout the day.  Many areas might spend much of the day in the upper 50s to low 60s. 

The airmass coming down is very dry, dew points will drop quickly and skies will clear.  But the cold air advection is impressive and temperatures won’t recover much all day.  Windy conditions will be back to just breezy by evening but temperatures will continue to fall.

On Sunday morning, winds will still be up but temperatures will drop anyway.  If winds go lighter for just a short time during the early morning hours, temperatures will really fall with the very dry air over us.  

Lows Sunday morning will be fairly uniform over the area, no large spread due to the wind.  We do not expect any frost of freeze in our Northern Counties.

Our Forecast Lows Sunday Morning

  • Crystal River 39
  • Brooksville 37
  • Clearwater 48
  • St. Petersburg 50
  • Tampa 47
  • Bradenton 50
  • Lakeland 48
  • Winter Haven 43

Sunday will be sunny but cool.  Temperatures will struggle to get out of the 60s all day.  But this cold snap won’t last, expect a rapid warm-up early next week with 80s returning by the middle of next week.