May sets astonishing heat record in Tampa

Yahoo

3 days ago

Jeff Berardelli is WFLA's Chief Meteorologist and Climate Specialist
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)—It was the second warmest May on record in Tampa. Impressive, but not astonishing.
What is astonishing is that Tampa broke its record for the all-time warmest May morning – not just once, but four times! Technically, it is known as the 'record warm minimum'.
Records have been kept in Tampa since 1890, and the warmest morning low in those 130+ years has been 79 degrees.
But in May 2025, Tampa stayed at or above the 80-degree mark on four mornings. On May 29th, the temperature never fell below 81.
The meteorological reason for this is that the Gulf has been abnormally warm this May, in part due to a relatively dry, sunny May under high pressure and light winds. The end of May featured eastern Gulf temperatures 5 to 7 degrees F above normal.
Also, the Bay Area has had onshore flow from the Gulf in late May. This aided in pushing Tampa's wake-up temperatures to unseen heights.
But warmer mornings are not a new phenomenon. Morning lows have been trending up for decades.
It's even more remarkable when you dig deeper into the numbers for May. 29 out of the 31 record warm minimum temperatures have occurred since the year 2000 – that's 94%. Remember, records have been kept since 1890.
The obvious culprit for this is human-caused climate change. This encompasses both urbanization and the greenhouse effect due to carbon pollution from the burning of fossil fuels.
Overall, since 1970, Tampa has warmed 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit. That's a lot! While both daytime and morning temperatures are rising, it is the morning lows that are rising faster.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.