Did you feel the chill, Bradenton? That was the coldest Christmas ever, forecasters say
Dec. 25 will live in the history books as the coldest Christmas Day on record in the Bradenton area, according to the National Weather Service.
Based on the temperature readings at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, Sunday was the coldest Christmas in over 111 years. The airport’s temperature readings go all the way back to 1911.
The previous record holder was Christmas 1989, when the high temperature was 51 degrees. On Sunday, the highest temperature reading at the airport was only 48 degrees.
Add in the wind chill and it felt like 40 degrees.
In a tweet posted Sunday morning, the weather service pointed to freezing temperatures in some parts of Florida and suggested that the temperature could break records as one of the coldest Christmas holidays.
Only the high temperature record was broken, the weather service said. The lowest low temperature ever recorded on Christmas Day at Sarasota-Bradenton International was 22 degrees in 1983. Sunday’s low temperature was 36.
And there’s either good or bad news in the latest weather forecast, depending on how you feel about running the heater in Florida.
It won’t remain chilly in Bradenton for too much longer, NWS officials say.
The latest Bradenton weather forecast
Temperatures are expected to remain on the cooler side Tuesday before the thermometer cranks by up to 80 degrees Friday.
“After Tuesday, it’s going to get warmer pretty quickly. It should be 6 or 8 degrees warmer each day until Friday,” said Nicole Carlisle, a meteorologist at the NWS Tampa Bay Area office in Ruskin.
The shift will mark the end of a cold snap in Bradenton, which saw temperatures fall as low as 35 degrees. In other parts of the nation, the winter storms that caused havoc and travel delays up north are also coming to an end, the Weather Channel reported.
On Tuesday, the Bradenton area can expect to see a high of 66 degrees and a low of 45 degrees. The high will be around 72 degrees Wednesday with a low of about 53 degrees.
National Weather Service forecasters expect to see a high of 77 and a low of 60 on Thursday. By Friday, the high should be around 80 degrees with a low of 66 degrees.
Friday will also bring scattered showers to the area, according to the NWS forecast, with a 20% chance of rain.
Rain and thunderstorms could continue through the New Year’s holiday weekend, with a 40% chance on Saturday and a 30% chance on Sunday.
This story was originally published December 26, 2022 at 3:23 PM.
