If you’re one of the thousands planning to converge on downtown Tampa for Saturday’s Gasparilla festivities, don’t let Friday morning’s gray clouds and lack of sunshine act as a discouragement.
A lot is going to change in the next 24 hours, and for the better. Especially now that the brutal cold (by Florida standards) from earlier this week is long gone.
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The moisture that is creating low-level clouds will be exiting the area later on Friday, making way for sunny skies and cooler, pleasant temperatures on Saturday, according to forecasters with the National Weather Service.
Skies will be mostly cloudy on Friday, with mild breezes out of the south and above-average highs in the mid-70s with a 20% chance of isolated showers primarily north of I-4, forecasters said.
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Overnight lows will drop near 60 as a cold front that is forecast to move south into the region.
Folks waking up early for the annual pirate invasion will be greeted with cooler, drier air on Saturday afternoon as high pressure builds across Tampa Bay from the northwest.
Highs will only reach around 70 – the norm for this time of year – and cooler to the north, forecasters said. More importantly, skies will be clear, so there should be no need for rain gear.
However, if you’re planning to stay into the night, a jacket might be in order as lows will dip the 40s, fueled by winds from the north, forecasters said.
