CURRENT SYNOPSIS: High pressure at the surface is in 'retreat mode' and off the SE Florida Coast as the highly publicized cold front moves down the Florida Peninsula. MAKE IT STOP! Images clearly delineate the clouds associated with the front proper, and the wind shift and marked temperature drop boundary clearly pronounce the fronts arrival as a surface entity of dreadful proportions.
TODAY: Cold front on the way as I write. The clouds along the N-W'trn horizons became visible less than an hour ago to the naked eye, and are already overhead in broken to scattered fashion. There is some rain associated both ahead and just behind the front. Surface winds are a stealthy 12-32mph in the area along the Space Coast early this afternoon with temperatures around 70F plus or minus a degree or two. Further north within the boundary the temperatures are in the mid 50s, and already into the upper 40s further north and west still. Timing will take the front through Orlando by 1-3pm and across the Space Coast in the 4-6pm time frame. Accompanying the front will be some light rain, overcast skies, and brisk WSW winds.
TONIGHT: After dark, the clouds will break up, temperatures fall, and winds become more W to WNWly. Cold air advection will be in progress relentlessly all night as wind chills become a driving force.
MONDAY: Cold from the Florida perspective. Daytime sunshine trying to mix with the cold air still filtering in will make the wind all the more brisk. I'm seeing the forecasts, but not buying into a forecast high breaching 50F, and if so for only a very brief time. Expecting the temperature to be in the 40s all day for the most part north of a Vero-Tampa line. It will feel much colder though with the wind making the cold air penetrable through every crack and crevice. Beware of north facing structures that will feel the full brunt of the wind minus sunlight.
Cold air blowing briskly across the Gulf of Mexico waters could very well induce a stratocumulus deck which could engulf much of the south half of the peninsula from near Sarasota - Ft Pierce adding bite to bark (or vice versa). Don't think we'll quite see the freezing mark in the morning but evenly distributed temperatures all locales in the mid-upper 30s are a good bet for all of Central Florida, a little warmer further south and of course colder to the north of a Daytona Beach-Crystal River Line where it will indeed be freezing.
It does not look like we will see any ice crystals falling from the clouds on Monday; in fact, probably other than those areas noted above where stratocumulus looks like a good bet, the north half of the state should be all coasts clear blue.
TUESDAY: Very cold start with widespread freezing temperatures beginning in the wee hours and lasting for quite a while. This could qualify as a HARD freeze for many areas inland as far south as Lake Okeechobee. Still the wind to deal with; this will be an intrusive, wind driven cold spell of most unaccommodating nature all day. Perhaps a few degrees warmer during peak heating than Monday but we'll still be clicking our heels three times: 'There's no place like home'. Oh pray tell, the heat is on there! Winds to die day a few hours after sunset.
WEDNESDAY: Continued unfavorable conditions for Florida agriculture, pets, and humans alike. High pressure will begin to move overhead, and the likelihood of radiational cooling as opposed to pure advection cooling will be at its greatest likelihood to occur Wednesday morning. As such, cold the whole way down to the tippy tip toe of the Peninsula but warmer along the intracoastals where warmer air above the bodies of water will be permitted to ooze across the near by land areas which they either surround or closely border due to the lack of wind which would otherwise not permit this to occur. Afternoon high temperature to rebound to reasonably sane; to that of which we've become almost accustomed to lately and well in to the upper 50s and 60s...warmer the further south one goes of course.
THURSDAY-FRIDAY: Better yet! The surface high pressure center will shift east of the state as the upper-mid level trough over the Eastern United States lifts a bit north and allows warmer air awaiting in the wings way down there south of Cuba to work its way north. No more freezing temperatures to deal with ...and afternoon high temperatures reaching the mid-upper 60s; 70s are highly questionable though north of a Vero-Tampa line.
SATURDAY: A perturbation in the upper levels could sink another boundary (cold front) down into North and Central Florida harboring a return to cloudiness and a rain chance. Not looking for a sudden cold blast this time, but rather a gradually seductive and permeating chill in the air will return without nearly the gusto as the system coming through today. No freezing or near freezing temperatures are foreseeable any time before or during Christmas for South or Central Florida beyond this coming Wednesday.
To cut to the chase, tonight through Wednesday morning it's survival of the fittest! Which, in reality, is a total joke compared to what other people in the United States around the Upper Mid West and the Northeast states are having to contend with. But each man has his demons...one learns to live and cope with it as best can.
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