Wardey
Founding Member
.....but then again, I never take my boat to this mad house. Gonna be a nasty weekend.
TAMPA - Blow me down, matey.
Get ready for a blustery, windy, wet, possibly wicked Gasparilla weatherwise.
A cold front is expected to come through the Tampa Bay area Saturday afternoon, bringing with it a 70 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some of those storms could pack a serious punch.
"At this time, the risk of severe weather is limited, but we could certainly see thunderstorms with wind gusts in the 30- to 40-mph range,'' said Rick Davis, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin. "It's certainly going to be rough out there.''
On land and at sea.
That could mean a bad day on Hillsborough Bay for boaters with the Gasparilla flotilla, and a bad day for those jammed along the parade route.
Gasparilla organizers will huddle later today to make a decision on whether to postpone or cancel the event, which they have said would be difficult to do and unlikely.
The worst of the weather is expected to arrive between 2 and 8 p.m., Davis said, ahead of and along the cold front.
The flotilla sets sail at 11:30 a.m. and arrives at the Tampa Convention Center at 1 p.m. The parade takes place along Bayshore Boulevard from 2 to 5:30 p.m.
Weather service officials are in touch with city emergency management workers to give them the latest forecast information.
"Our job is to give them weather information, and they can base their decisions on our forecasted weather,'' Davis said. "We'll be here monitoring the weather and letting them know if any strong storms are coming their way.''
Saturday will be warm and humid, with highs in the lower to mid-70s as the front approaches. Winds will be out of the southwest from 11 to 18 mph, gusting to 25 mph with even higher readings in some of the thunderstorms.
A small craft advisory is expected to be in effect Saturday.
By Sunday, skies will clear and temperatures will be cooler. Highs will be in the mid-60s.
TAMPA - Blow me down, matey.
Get ready for a blustery, windy, wet, possibly wicked Gasparilla weatherwise.
A cold front is expected to come through the Tampa Bay area Saturday afternoon, bringing with it a 70 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some of those storms could pack a serious punch.
"At this time, the risk of severe weather is limited, but we could certainly see thunderstorms with wind gusts in the 30- to 40-mph range,'' said Rick Davis, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin. "It's certainly going to be rough out there.''
On land and at sea.
That could mean a bad day on Hillsborough Bay for boaters with the Gasparilla flotilla, and a bad day for those jammed along the parade route.
Gasparilla organizers will huddle later today to make a decision on whether to postpone or cancel the event, which they have said would be difficult to do and unlikely.
The worst of the weather is expected to arrive between 2 and 8 p.m., Davis said, ahead of and along the cold front.
The flotilla sets sail at 11:30 a.m. and arrives at the Tampa Convention Center at 1 p.m. The parade takes place along Bayshore Boulevard from 2 to 5:30 p.m.
Weather service officials are in touch with city emergency management workers to give them the latest forecast information.
"Our job is to give them weather information, and they can base their decisions on our forecasted weather,'' Davis said. "We'll be here monitoring the weather and letting them know if any strong storms are coming their way.''
Saturday will be warm and humid, with highs in the lower to mid-70s as the front approaches. Winds will be out of the southwest from 11 to 18 mph, gusting to 25 mph with even higher readings in some of the thunderstorms.
A small craft advisory is expected to be in effect Saturday.
By Sunday, skies will clear and temperatures will be cooler. Highs will be in the mid-60s.
