Hazardous Weather Outlook Issued For Tampa Bay Area

TAMPA, FL — As Tampa Bay area residents and visitors prepare to celebrate America’s birthday with fireworks and barbecues, Mother Nature may put on a few lightshows of her own. According to the National Weather Service, scattered thunderstorms are likely over the next two days. A silver lining in the clouds, however, may come just in time for Tuesday night fireworks shows.

The weather service is warning thunderstorms expected to move across the region on both Monday and Tuesday could be problematic for those with outdoor plans. Scattered to numerous thunderstorms are expected Monday with the greatest impacts anticipated inland, the service wrote in Monday’s Hazardous Weather Outlook report.

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“Thunderstorms that develop today will move slow and erratic, so locally heavy rainfall amounts will be possible in some locations which may cause some minor flooding of low lying and poor drainage areas,” the service warned. Water on roadways may also be a concern in some areas. Frequent lighting and strong, gusty winds are also possible.

The weather service says Monday will also bring steamy conditions into the region. Mostly sunny skies with a daytime high in the low 90s are expected. The heat index, or feels-like temperature, could soar to 100, the service warns, so folks may want to take care if they plan on being outdoors for extended periods of time before the rains roll in.

Forecasters say the overnight low Monday will only drop into the upper 70s.

Independence Day is expected to bring partly sunny conditions in the morning and early afternoon hours. The day’s high will once again soar into the low 90s with a heat index of about 101 degrees expected.

Scattered to numerous thunderstorms are also forecast for July 4. Storms are expected to move into the region after 2 p.m. “with the greatest storm coverage continuing over inland locations during the afternoon and early evening hours.”

Tuesday’s storms are once again anticipated to be rather slow-moving and erratic. “Residents and visitors planning Independence Day outdoor activities should keep an eye to the sky and be ready to move indoors immediately if lightning is observed or thunder is heard,” the service warned in its report.

While rain chances are expected to stick around into the early evening hours Tuesday, forecasters say storms should mainly roll through the area before 8 p.m. The timing may be good news for those with fireworks plans, but mostly cloudy skies are expected to persist through the evening hours. The overnight low Tuesday is forecast to only drop into the upper 70s.

Scattered thunderstorms remain a dominate part of the forecast through the workweek ahead. For an extended look at the forecast in your neighborhood, visit your local Patch’s homepage.

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