Arctic Blast Brings Record Cold Temperatures To FL

A surge of Arctic air that moved across the eastern U.S., dipping as far south as Florida, brought record cold temperatures to many parts of the Sunshine State on Tuesday morning.

A number of cities across the state saw their record lows for Nov. 11 tied or broken, the National Weather Service in Tampa Bay wrote in a post to X.

Tampa beat its 133-year-old record low for the date with a temperature of 39 degrees as of 7 a.m. Its previous record was 40 degrees on Nov. 11, 1892, according to NWS. The temperature was recorded at Tampa International Airport on Tuesday.

Brooksville saw lows of 35 degrees on Tuesday morning, beating its previous record of 37 degrees from 1977, the NWS said.

Meanwhile, St. Petersburg recorded a low of 38 degrees, besting its previous record low of 44 degrees in 1956.

In Lakeland and Winter Haven, lows of 36 degrees were recorded, beating out both cities’ previous record lows of 44 degrees (1996) and 38 degrees (1962), respectively, the NWS said.

The Sarasota/Bradenton area saw a temperature of 40 degrees on Tuesday morning, tying the area’s record low from 1956. And Punta Gorda recorded a low of 39 degrees, making for a chillier morning than its previous record of 44 degrees in 1943.

Many Central Florida cities, including Leesburg, Sanford, Melbourne and Orlando, saw record cold temperatures, as well, WFTV 9 reported.

This blast of Arctic air, bringing freezing temperatures to parts of the Gulf Coast into northern Florida, is one of the coldest to move into this area so early in the season, according to The Weather Channel.

“To put things into perspective, this will rival the coldest it got all last winter...and it's only Mid-November. In fact, it hasn't gotten this cold this early in nearly 60 years (1966). Temperatures will be over 20 degrees below average,” Matt Devitt with WINK Weather wrote in a Facebook post.

Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Panama City dropped to temperatures of 28 degrees, while Gainesville saw its earliest freeze in 17 years, reports said.

The cold weather will continue Tuesday night and another widespread freeze is possible in northern parts of the state, Weather Channel forecasters said. Some areas in Florida, including Jacksonville, Gainesville, Daytona Beach, Sarasota and Charlotte Harbor, could come close to record lows again on Wednesday.

Temperatures will remain cool during the day Tuesday even as it warms up a bit, Denis Phillips, chief meteorologist for Tampa Bay 28, wrote in a Facebook post.

“We'll see plenty of sun today but the temperatures will struggle to reach 60 degrees. Strong winds will be around all morning but should become less gusty by the afternoon. Most of the day we'll see temps in the 50s,” he wrote.