New Year’s Eve in Tampa Bay: Cooler weather to ring in 2024
The sky will be clear and the air will be cool when fireworks light up the night sky on New Year’s Eve in Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Thursday’s drizzly, dreary weather made way for a cold front that will settle into the area this weekend, dropping temperatures into the 40s across Tampa Bay, according to the National Weather Service. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day (Sunday and Monday) are likely to be chilly but free of rain.
Portions of Tampa Bay were expected to receive at least about a half inch of rain Thursday, said Jennifer Hubbard, a senior meteorologist for the weather service’s Tampa Bay office. By Thursday afternoon, showers had moved out, leaving behind cloudy weather.
“Skies don’t really clear well until later, more like the weekend timeframe,” Hubbard said Thursday.
The dull weather will stick around Friday and temperatures will begin to steadily drop, Hubbard said. Like much of this week, temperatures will remain below normal going into the weekend.
Friday’s high is expected to be in the lower 60s across the area and the low will dip to the lower 50s and upper 40s. The chilliest time this weekend will be early Sunday morning, with temperatures in the low 40s in inland areas and in the lower 50s in coastal areas.
As partygoers begin to make their way out on New Year’s Eve, temperatures will start out in the 60s. By the time the Times Square ball begins its famous descent in New York City, temperatures here will fall into the 50s.
New Year’s Day will start the year off on a lovely note, with forecasters calling for sunny skies and high temperatures hovering near a mild 70 degrees during the day.
Hubbard said a series of cold fronts will keep temperatures on the cooler side for the first week of 2024.
“It’s not going to be super cold, still upper 60s and 70s, but it will stay below normal for this time of year, and a little bit cooler,” Hubbard said. “So a little refreshing.”
