TAMPA, Fla. – Residents waking up to 2026 across the Tampa Bay area couldn’t have asked for a better start. New Year’s Day is delivering a postcard-perfect backdrop for holiday plans, with abundant sunshine and comfortable highs near 66 degrees. It’s the kind of crisp, calm weather that makes outdoor resolutions easy to keep—at least for now.
The pleasant conditions are set to hold through Friday, though early risers should watch out for patchy fog during the morning commute. Once that burns off, temperatures will climb to a warm 71 degrees under mostly sunny skies. It’s shaping up to be a brief window of ideal Florida winter weather before the pattern shifts dramatically.
By Saturday, you’ll want to keep the rain gear handy. The tranquility of the week will be interrupted by a storm system moving in during the afternoon. Forecasters are calling for a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms kicking off after 1 p.m., with gusty southwest winds reaching up to 22 mph…