TAMPA -- Official numbers won't be out for a few days, but preliminary readings point to 2023 as Tampa's hottest year since they started keeping records.
Unofficial numbers show Tampa averaged 76.6 degrees Fahrenheit for 2023, compared with 76.4 in 2022.
Meteorologist Eric Oglesby at the National Weather Service office in Ruskin says Tampa's top three recorded hottest years have been three of the last four years.
Oglesby adds that two factors contributed to the heat: lower-than-normal summer rainfall in many locations along Florida's west coast, and warmer-than-average Gulf water. Warmer water drives nighttime temperatures higher in coastal communities during the summer, boosting the averages.
St. Petersburg and Plant City are among other communities that set or tied records in 2023.
Listen to National Weather Service meteorologist Eric Oglesby below:
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