Temperatures Plunge In Tampa Bay Area After Record Highs: NWS

FLORIDA — Days after hitting highs in the 80s, temperatures have plunged throughout the Tampa Bay area and across Florida, with many cities seeing temperatures in the 40s Sunday, forecasters said.

Lakeland saw a record high of 85 degrees Saturday, the National Weather Service’s Tampa Bay office posted to X, formerly Twitter. Punta Gorda hit 86 degrees, tying its previous record high set in 1952, while Ruskin reached 85.

Cooler weather arrived Sunday and continues through the week with “below normal temperatures,” the NWS said.

Breezy west to northwest winds usher in “much cooler drier air” Monday afternoon, the agency added. The state won’t see any freezing temperatures, though.

The Tampa Bay area will see temperatures in the 50s to low 60s much of the day, though the breeze will make it feel cooler, Denis Phillips, meteorologist for ABC Action News, wrote in a Facebook post.

By Tuesday, the region will see lows in the high 30s to mid-40s and highs in the 60s, NWS said.

The rest of the week will see lows in the 40s and 50s and highs in the 60s, with some cities possibly hitting 70 degrees.

A high pressure system also keeps the rain away for much of the week, WESH reported. The next likelihood of rain comes Sunday, when a low-pressure system moving across the peninsula brings scattered shows.

Here's the latest Tampa Bay forecast from the National Weather Service:

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 62. Northwest wind around 10 mph.

Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 46. Northwest wind around 6 mph.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 67. North northeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming west in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 49. West northwest wind 3 to 6 mph.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 70. West wind 5 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 46. North wind 10 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 68. North northeast wind 7 to 9 mph.

Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52. North northeast wind around 6 mph.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 69. East northeast wind 5 to 9 mph becoming west in the afternoon.

Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 50.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 73.

Saturday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 55.

Sunday: Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Partly sunny, with a high near 74. Breezy. Chance of precipitation is 70%.