Scattered storms today ahead of strong front tomorrow

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – It’s cool, misty and foggy this morning, but we’ll break the clouds up enough by midday to get temperatures into the low 70s this afternoon. Today will be the last day in the 70s until the end of next week.

Scattered storms form this afternoon. Today’s rain chance is 50%, and some of the downpours may be briefly heavy. While a few lingering showers are possible overnight, the rain chance goes down.

A strong cold front passes tomorrow morning with a thin line of showers. Immediately after the front passes, temperatures start to fall. While we start tomorrow in the 60s, we’ll be in the 50s during the afternoon and dropping into the 20s and 30s by Saturday morning.

Through the Christmas weekend, you’ll want to cover sensitive plants and bring the pets inside to stay warm. Areas north of Tampa Bay may need to cover or drip their exposed pipes and run their pool pumps to keep things from freezing.

Christmas Eve will be cool and breezy all day. Highs only reach the upper 40s. Wind chills in the afternoon may still be in the 30s for parts of Tampa Bay.

Get ready to snuggle by the fireplace again Saturday night. Lows will be back in the upper 20s to low 30s when you wake up on Christmas morning.

Extra clouds around on Christmas keep highs in the upper 40s again, but it should be rain-free.

There’s a gradual warm-up next week, but we stay below average through Wednesday.