A strong cold front is moving into Florida Monday after a winter storm system pummeled much of the U.S. over the weekend. <\/p>\n
The colder air is expected to move into the Sunshine State by Monday night, bringing freezing temperatures to areas north of Tampa and Interstate 4 and low wind chills across the area, the National Weather Service\u2019s Tampa Bay office posted to X<\/a>. <\/p>\n Temperatures will range from 26 to 41 degrees across the Tampa Bay area with wind chills making temperatures feel like 18 to the low 20s over the Nature Coast counties and from the mid-20s to the mid-30s further south in the Tampa Bay region, forecasters said.<\/p>\n A freeze warning is in place for much of northern Florida, including Levy, Citrus, Hernando, Pasco and Sumter counties, according to the agency. <\/p>\n Freezing temperatures are forecast for multiple nights as far to the southeast as the north-central part of the Florida peninsula, AccuWeather reported<\/a>. There\u2019s also a potential for frost farther south and inland. <\/p>\n A cold weather advisory was issued for the rest of West Central Florida and Central Florida because of the expected wind chills. <\/p>\n Temperatures will range from 10 to nearly 20 degrees below normal in the greater Tampa Bay area and the cold weather is forecast to last through the rest of the week, NWS said. <\/p>\n \u201cAlright folks, this is not a drill. We are entering multiple mornings in the 20s, 30s and 40s. Temperatures that drop to near or below freezing leave Florida iguanas and other nonnative reptiles cold-stunned. <\/p>\n \u201cCold-blooded friends may go temporarily stiff and drop from trees. They\u2019re not gone\u2026 just rebooting,\u201d Phillips wrote. <\/p>\n He offered the following advice for dealing with frozen iguanas: \u201cLook up. Park smart. Don\u2019t be the person who gets taken out by a frozen lizard.\u201d<\/p>\n As for staying warm, \u201cthis is legitimate hoodie weather,\u201d he wrote. \u201cBlankets upgraded from \u2018decorative\u2019 to \u2018essential.\u2019 Pets will suddenly need to be directly on you at all times. Space heaters will be fighting for their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n The extreme cold stretch comes on the heels of record high temperatures set in some parts of Florida over the weekend. <\/p>\n Tampa tied its daily record high for Jan. 24 on Saturday recording a temperature of 86 degrees, while Fort Myers set a new record for the day at 83 degrees, NWS said. <\/p>\n
That means [two] things\u201d \u2014 falling iguanas and a \u201csnuggle alert,\u201d Denis Phillips, chief meteorologist for Tampa Bay 28, wrote in a social media post<\/a>, adding, \u201cHighs stay below normal for over a week. Mornings feel downright \u2018not Florida.\u2019 Some models still hint at snow in the panhandle next weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n