Time For More Rain, Cold In Tampa Bay Area

Posted Feb 2, 2009 by TBO.com

Updated Feb 2, 2009 at 08:18 AM

Now that most of the visitors for the Super Bowl are shuffling out of town, it’s time for some lousy weather.

Showers from an area of low pressure building in the Gulf of Mexico are already starting to move ashore over the southern portion of the Tampa Bay area and into Pinellas County and as far south as Charlotte County. Commuters on Interstate 75 in Charlotte and Lee counties as well are folks farther inland near Arcadia and Archbold will also likely see some of this rain.

It’s just the start. The rain now over the Gulf will build to the north through the day and probably be around Tampa by the middle of the morning or maybe in time to gum up late commuters.

The rain will be on and off all day with some of the showers possibly packing some gusty winds and heavy rain, the weather service says. The chances of a thunderstorm making it inland are fairly slim though, the weather service says.

With the clouds and rain, the temperature this afternoon will probably hover in the middle 60s, but the serious cold is coming with another round of temperatures near freezing in Hillsborough by Wednesday morning and freezing from Pasco County north.

Thursday morning will bring possibly the coldest weather of the winter, with temperatures in the high 20s possibly stretching from Hillsborough as far south as Highlands County.

Eastern Pasco could see lower 20s and Hernando County could see the high teens.

The cold will be with us through the rest of the work week, with possibly freezing temperatures in line for Hillsborough again on Friday morning and below freezing farther north.