Tampa Bay Weekend Weather: Hot Days Ahead

TAMPA, FL — Tampa Bay area residents with big outdoor plans for the weekend are likely to find the weather cooperative. While heat is a given in the days ahead, rain chances are relatively low until Sunday.

Friday kicks off the weekend with mostly sunny skies and a steamy high near 91 degrees expected in much of the region. The heat index value is expected to climb to about 97 degrees, meaning conditions should get pretty steamy in the afternoon hours.

Rain chances do creep into the cards heading into the overnight hours. There’s a 20 percent chance for some isolated storms mainly after midnight, according to the National Weather Service. The forecast calls for an overnight low in the mid-70s.

Saturday is expected to start out with partly sunny skies, but some chances for isolated storms are in the forecast in the afternoon hours. The daytime high should reach the 90-degree mark in much of the region. Overnight, a 20 percent chance of storms remains in the cards. The low is expected to fall into the mid-70s.

Sunday brings the biggest chance for storms of the weekend at 40 percent or so. Forecasters, however, say those storms shouldn't move in until the late afternoon. A high around 90 degrees is likely.

Storm chances linger at 40 percent heading into the nighttime hours Sunday. An overnight low around 75 degrees is anticipated.

Severe weather isn’t expected over the weekend, but forecasters do warn that a slow increase in moisture is likely to improve storm development chances as the weekend continues. Thunderstorms that do develop will be capable of producing heavy rain, strong winds and frequent lightning.

Monday is expected to kick off the workweek with a slightly cooler high in the upper 80s anticipated. Storm chances, thanks to that increase in moisture, are set at 50 percent in the day and nighttime hours. Tuesday’s forecast is largely the same as Monday's.

For an extended forecast in your neighborhood, visit your local Patch’s homepage.

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