


Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Tampa Bay Area, FL
Issued by NWS Tampa Bay Area, FL
832 FXUS62 KTBW 172354 AFDTBW Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Tampa Bay Ruskin FL 754 PM EDT Sun Aug 17 2025 ...New AVIATION... .AVIATION... (00Z TAFS) Issued at 744 PM EDT Sun Aug 17 2025 VFR conditions expected across terminals as most of the activity close to being done. Light and variable winds prevail and become west to northwest on Monday along the sea breeze. Moisture increases through the period, which should support an increase in storm coverage. Showers and storms should develop near the coast earlier and push towards the interior though the afternoon. Then, outflow boundaries could push convection back towards the coast into the evening. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 135 PM EDT Sun Aug 17 2025 Weak upper-level ridging and surface high pressure continue to be dominant across the Florida peninsula, favoring an extremely light ESE flow across the peninsula that veers onshore during the afternoon. This is beginning to take place now, with the west coast sea breeze now evident in visible satellite as thunderstorms develop along the coast. Major hurricane Erin will have a substantial impact on the overall synoptic pattern in the coming days. Riding along the southern periphery of ridging in the Caribbean, Erin is expected to eventually make a northerly turn that takes the storm along the eastern seaboard, following a break in the ridge. While passing far enough to our east to negate any serious impacts across West Central and SWFL, the storm will cause large, powerful surf along the east coast of Florida, and dictate the ultimate placement and intensity of the ridge axis across the state. For the next couple days, the ridge remains pretty much directly overhead. As Erin passes to the east Tuesday, the gradient will tighten some, and the flow will turn NE. Some drier air is likely to be pulled over us, and depending upon the exact structure and proximity, we are probably looking at subsidence. This favors lower rain chances and thus less afternoon relief from the heat during the middle of the week. As Erin lifts to the north towards the end of the week, a deeper moisture fetch feeding into the storm returns, and the flow veers to a southwesterly direction. This will favor earlier convective initiation on Thursday and Friday along the coast, with storms transitioning inland during the afternoon. It also would support a warmer and more humid start to the day, with lows struggling to get into the 70s especially along the coast. By the weekend, ridging builds back in, and the overall flow trends more neutral and then ESE again late in the weekend. With ample moisture, this would favor a much more typical synoptic pattern and thus standard setup for shower and thunderstorm activity for the weekend. While the nuances of the forecast have been addressed in this discussion, ultimately these are just that - nuances. Day-to-day, most probably won`t notice much of a difference. The overall expectation, despite a major hurricane moving east of the state, is for a fairly benign weather week that resembles a fairly common week in August, with scattered to numerous thunderstorms and temperatures climbing into the low-to-mid 90s each day. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... TPA 80 93 79 94 / 40 60 30 50 FMY 78 95 77 94 / 40 60 30 60 GIF 78 95 77 95 / 40 70 20 40 SRQ 77 93 76 93 / 30 50 30 50 BKV 74 93 74 94 / 40 70 20 40 SPG 80 91 79 91 / 40 60 40 50 && Sea Breeze Thunderstorm Regime For Monday: 2 Sea Breeze Thunderstorm Regime For Tuesday: 2 For additional information on sea breeze regimes, go to: https://www.weather.gov/tbw/ThunderstormClimatology && .TBW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FL...None. Gulf waters...None. && $$ DISCUSSION/AVIATION...Flannery/Delerme DECISION SUPPORT...Fleming UPPER AIR/CLIMATE...Wynn