Tampa Bay weather forecast: Rainy end of week to be followed by cool weekend

This past week’s weather has been undeniably lovely.

Sunny, check. Blissfully warm, check. Temperatures above normal, also check.

But a cold front this weekend will change all that. Rain will makes its way to the Tampa Bay area Friday and Saturday, which will be followed by the coolest spell the area has seen in weeks.

Beginning Friday afternoon, storms and possible scattered thunderstorms will lumber down from the Nature Coast. The rain will likely stick around into Saturday, when much of the Florida peninsula will see showers and thunderstorms, according to Ali Davis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Tampa Bay office.

“Generally, it looks like most of the threat probably won’t get too far south of the Tampa Bay area,” Davis said. “But that’s kind of what we’re looking at on Friday.”

The storms will begin to clear out Saturday afternoon, and temperatures will start to drop. The high on Saturday will likely be in the upper 60s, though some areas could reach 70, Davis said.

Sunday will be a bright and sunny day, but highs will only reach into the low to mid-60s, Davis said. Sunday night temperatures will drop into the high 40s across the area. The last time the area had a day with a high that only got into the low 60s was mid-January.

As people make their way back to work Monday morning, the cool air will stick around and temperatures will remain in the 40s. However, temperatures will climb as the day goes on and will top out near 70.

Tuesday, which is Valentine’s Day, will be sunny with a high near 80.

Davis said while temperatures have been above average lately, they haven’t broken any records.

“So honestly, when we see these temperatures fall, like on Saturday when we see a high in the upper 60s ... it’s just going to be a few degrees below normal,” Davis said.