Tampa Bay area residents walked out of their homes this morning and ran smack-dab into fall.

Morning lows were anywhere from 9 to 22 degrees cooler than they were hours earlier, and Tampa set a record for the date with a low of 57 degrees. The old record was 58 degrees, set in 1974.



It's the first taste of cool weather for a region that has suffered through a long, hot, humid and, in many parts, rainy summer.

The low temps were pretty mild around Tampa, but north of the area - in Crystal River, Inverness and Brooksville - the thermometer dipped to 50 to 52 degrees. In other words, jacket weather.

The best is yet to come. Today will be sunny, with a projected high of 78, and tomorrow will be sunny and around 82, according to Bay News 9 meteorologist Josh Linker. There's no rain in the forecast for at least a few days.



"Today will be just a really pretty, although just a little breezy at times," Linker said. "Winds will be at out of the north at 10 15 mph for a good chunk of the day."

The cooler weather hasn't arrived for good, though. Temps will gradually rise during the week, and a chance of rain will come back into the forecast around Thursday. Highs late in the week will be in the mid to upper 80s.