Winter Weather in Tampa Florida, United StatesDaily high temperatures are around 73°F, rarely falling below 59°F or exceeding 83°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 70°F on January 17. Daily low temperatures are around 55°F, rarely falling below 38°F or exceeding 68°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 52°F on January 18. For reference, on July 22, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Tampa typically range from 76°F to 90°F, while on January 18, the coldest day of the year, they range from 52°F to 70°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average winter temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Nantou, Taiwan (8,546 miles away) is the far-away foreign place with temperatures most similar to Tampa (view comparison). CloudsThe winter in Tampa experiences essentially constant cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy remaining about 39% throughout the season. The highest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 42% on December 31. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 36% on February 24. The clearest day of the winter is February 24, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 64% of the time. For reference, on July 9, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 67%, while on April 30, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 64%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Tampa, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is rapidly increasing, starting the season at 16% and ending it at 22%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 72% on July 31, and its lowest chance is 13% on November 24. RainfallTo show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the winter in Tampa is increasing, starting the season at 1.8 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.2 inches or falls below 0.3 inches, and ending the season at 2.7 inches, when it rarely exceeds 4.8 inches or falls below 0.5 inches. SunOver the course of the winter in Tampa, the length of the day is rapidly increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 1 hour, 5 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 44 seconds, and weekly increase of 5 minutes, 7 seconds. The shortest day of the winter is December 20, with 10 hours, 22 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 28, with 11 hours, 35 minutes of daylight. The latest sunrise of the winter in Tampa is 7:22 AM on January 11 and the earliest sunrise is 27 minutes earlier at 6:55 AM on February 28. The earliest sunset is 5:33 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 56 minutes later at 6:29 PM on February 28. Daylight saving time is observed in Tampa during 2024, but it neither starts nor ends during the winter, so the entire season is in standard time. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:34 AM and sets 13 hours, 55 minutes later, at 8:29 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:17 AM and sets 10 hours, 22 minutes later, at 5:39 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the winter of 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon. HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Tampa is rapidly decreasing during the winter, falling from 32% to 20% over the course of the season. The lowest chance of a muggy day during the winter is 14% on January 27. For reference, on August 3, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 100% of the time, while on January 27, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 14% of the time. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Tampa is gradually increasing during the winter, increasing from 9.4 miles per hour to 10.0 miles per hour over the course of the season. For reference, on March 9, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 10.1 miles per hour, while on July 19, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 6.0 miles per hour. The lowest daily average wind speed during the winter is 9.3 miles per hour on December 16. The hourly average wind direction in Tampa throughout the winter is predominantly from the north, with a peak proportion of 38% on December 2. Water TemperatureTampa is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Tampa is decreasing during the winter, falling by 5°F, from 71°F to 66°F, over the course of the season. The lowest average surface water temperature during the winter is 64°F on February 5. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). While it does not do so every year, freezing temperatures are seen in Tampa over some winters. The day least likely to be in the growing season is January 12, with a 71% chance. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Tampa are very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 7,141°F, from 7,841°F to 700°F, over the course of the season. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Tampa is rapidly increasing during the winter, rising by 1.5 kWh, from 3.7 kWh to 5.2 kWh, over the course of the season. The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the winter is 3.5 kWh on December 20. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Tampa are 27.948 deg latitude, -82.458 deg longitude, and 13 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Tampa is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 46 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 14 feet. Within 10 miles is also essentially flat (85 feet). Within 50 miles is essentially flat (295 feet). The area within 2 miles of Tampa is covered by artificial surfaces (82%) and water (14%), within 10 miles by artificial surfaces (66%) and water (27%), and within 50 miles by water (36%) and artificial surfaces (24%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Tampa, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere are 3 weather stations near enough to contribute to our estimation of the temperature and dew point in Tampa. For each station, the records are corrected for the elevation difference between that station and Tampa according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. The estimated value at Tampa is computed as the weighted average of the individual contributions from each station, with weights proportional to the inverse of the distance between Tampa and a given station. The stations contributing to this reconstruction are:
To get a sense of how much these sources agree with each other, you can view a comparison of Tampa and the stations that contribute to our estimates of its temperature history and climate. Please note that each source's contribution is adjusted for elevation and the relative change present in the MERRA-2 data. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |