{"id":163012,"date":"2026-02-20T20:51:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/163012\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T20:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T20:51:12","slug":"a-cold-front-is-coming-through-sunday-is-it-tampa-bays-last-gasp-of-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/163012\/","title":{"rendered":"A cold front is coming through Sunday. Is it Tampa Bay\u2019s last gasp of winter?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What may be the last huff of cold weather<\/a> will arrive early next week, bringing the possibility of near-freezing temperatures to Tampa Bay once again.<\/p>\n

Unseasonable cold has gripped the area several times this winter, leading to the coldest temperatures in years<\/a> and the rare sight of flurries across the region on Feb.1.<\/a><\/p>\n

The weather has slowly mellowed over the past few weeks, and recently, temperatures have leaned more typical to above normal. This weekend, ahead of the cold front, the mercury is likely to be in the low to mid-80s around coastal Tampa Bay, about 5 to 10 degrees above average.<\/p>\n

Inland areas east of Tampa Bay, like Lakeland, could near a sweltering 90 degrees.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The National Weather Service said foggy weather is also likely Saturday, coupled with a warm, humid afternoon.<\/p>\n

But a shake-up is expected overnight Saturday into Sunday, when a cold front will settle in and the weather will turn from balmy to brisk.<\/p>\n

A line of showers could accompany the cold front. But the rain will be no drought-buster. Just around a quarter-inch is expected, said Nicole Carlisle, a meteorologist for Tampa Bay\u2019s weather service,<\/p>\n

Following the showers, temperatures will drop, and by Mondaymorning, the mercury will fall into the mid- to upper 40s.<\/p>\n

The coldest day of the week, Tuesday, could see low temperatures near freezing. Areas north of Tampa Bay, like Brooksville and Crystal River, will likely reach freezing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Forecasters said windy conditions could make temperatures feel more like 20 to 30 degrees.<\/p>\n

The chilly weather will linger into Wednesday but will warm to near normal by Thursday.<\/p>\n

A run of fronts this winter led to prolonged days and nights of deep cold. The upcoming dip of chilly weather is more on par with a typical Florida cold front \u2014 a quick slap of cold that recedes in a day or two.<\/p>\n

It could also be one of the last cold snaps of the season.<\/p>\n

Winter, by meteorological standards, comes to a close when February ends. It\u2019s around this time that cold fronts become more unlikely, Carlisle said.<\/p>\n

Typically, cold air can\u2019t make it far enough south to Tampa Bay as the area transitions into spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is probably one of the last little blasts of cold air,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Carlisle added that it\u2019s not out of the question that Tampa Bay could get another cold front, but late February is already pushing it.<\/p>\n

And for the foreseeable future, the likelihood of more cold is slim. Over the next few weeks, warm temperatures are on repeat in the forecast, Carlisle said.<\/p>\n

O<\/a>utlooks from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a> showed that Florida\u2019s temperatures are likely to lean above average over the next month.<\/p>\n

That means the chilly weather early next week could be the last chance to bask in the cold before hotter temperatures become the norm once again.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n

The Tampa Bay Times launched the Environment Hub in 2025 to focus on some of Florida\u2018s most urgent and enduring challenges. You can contribute through our journalism fund by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What may be the last huff of cold weather will arrive early next week, bringing the possibility of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[21725,1267,28127,135,1526,137,136,77950],"class_list":["post-163012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-chilly-weather","tag-cold-front","tag-coldest-temperatures","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-unseasonable-cold"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}