Sleet falls in county

For the first time in 14 years, residents woke up to the sounds of sleet pelting their rooftops.

The National Weather Service in Ruskin confirmed it. What people saw when they looked out their windows Saturday morning was sleet.

The rain falling from the sky entered a layer of sub-freezing air. When that happens, the rain turns into ice.

"It's highly unusual to see that," said Logan Johnson, a forecaster with the National Weather Service. "It's not an event that happens very often."

Johnson said it was the first time sleet was reported in the Tampa region since January 1996.

Hernando County had another cold night Saturday and the lows tonight could reach 16 degrees, Johnson said.

That will make it two consecutive nights of hard freeze warnings, another rarity for the area.

A wind chill advisory is in effect for Brooksville through early this morning, according to AccuWeather.com.

This weekend's weather is caused by cold and dry air filtering across the area along breezy, northerly winds, meteorologists have said.

Temperatures are expected to warm slightly by Monday, with daytime termperatures in the 50s, Johnson said.

The forecast shows a return to 70-degree weather by Friday afternoon.