Tampa, FL UV Index Today
What is the UV index in Tampa right now?
0.4 Low
EPA describes low UV as needing no protection for most people.
Today's peak is 8.3 (Very High) at about 2pm local time.
When is UV strongest in Tampa today?
UV in Tampa peaks at 8.3 (Very High) around 2pm local time (GMT-4). It stays at 6 or above — the high band — for 4 hours, roughly 12pm to 4pm. UV is 3 or above for 7 hours.
Tampa today, in numbers
- Latitude
- 27.9°N — 118 of 121 from the north
- Today's peak
- 8.3 (Very High) — 21 of 121 nationally
- Peak arrives
- 2pm local (GMT-4)
- At or above 6
- 4 hours, 12pm to 4pm
- At or above 3
- 7 hours, 10am to 5pm
The window from 12pm to 4pm is the practical answer for Tampa today. Nationally today the spread runs 11.4 in Hilo (20°N) to 1.3 in Fargo (47°N). Why latitude and the clock decide this →
Sea-breeze convergence versus the afternoon maximum
The Florida peninsula is little more than a hundred miles across at this latitude, and that width sets the shape of a summer day in Tampa. A sea breeze pushes inland off the Gulf from the west while another comes in off the Atlantic from the east; they collide over the interior and force air upward. NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory puts the highest frequency of cloud-to-ground lightning in the country along the corridor running from Tampa toward Orlando, which is roughly where that collision line tends to settle.
Solar noon here lands near 1:30 p.m. eastern daylight time, and the storms those breezes build typically fire through the early and middle afternoon. From June into September the peak UV hour and the storm hour are in direct competition, and the winner changes daily. A stronger Gulf breeze can hold the convergence line east of the bay, leaving downtown under open sky while Lakeland goes dark. A stronger Atlantic breeze does the reverse, and neither is predictable a day out.
The dry months work differently. With the convergence largely shut down from November into March, a January afternoon here is far less likely to be cut short at all. Tampa sits at about 28 degrees north, near the latitude of Corpus Christi, so what an uninterrupted winter afternoon delivers is not trivial: at the December solstice the midday sun still reaches close to 39 degrees above the horizon.
Nearest metros we model
What does Tampa’s UV index mean today?
0.4 is Low. EPA describes low UV as needing no protection for most people. Today Tampa also reaches Very High at its peak — a different band from the one it is in right now, which is why the hour matters as much as the day.
Modelled, not measured
The UV figures for Tampa are computed by the Copernicus atmosphere model, not read off an instrument here — unlike the AQI on our air-quality pages, which comes from a regulatory monitor. Cloud is where a UV model is weakest. What that means in practice →
Questions about UV in Tampa
What is the UV index in Tampa today?
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