Wednesday, Thawsday, Fryday...So Long Ice!

Image: Frozen Flamingos Batman!

CURRENT: High pressure building south through much of the Deep South and down the spine of the Florida peninsula early this Wednesday afternoon, although there seems to be a secondary core in the NE Gulf of Mexico upon satellite imagery investigation. So nicely placed, that the warmest temperatures are found along the extreme western Panhandle where some 60 degree temperatures are being reported with a return southerly flow on the backside of the high pressure center. Everyone else is fairing nicely under mainly clear skies with a NW wind other than some what appears to be 'wash over' near Tallahassee where some mid level clouds are now evident.

TODAY: Most everyone is in the 50s over Central and South Florida this afternoon, with areas from West Palm and points south flirting around the big 6-0 mark. Such will remain the same for the day's remainder, with central portions remaining in the low-mid 50s, southern portions in the upper 50s to maybe a tick above 60. Upper 40s and lower 50s further north. Light and variable winds for the most part as the high pressure settles in for the evening.

TONIGHT: Light and variable winds under clear skies will set the stage for undoubtedly prime radiational cooling coupled with drainage flow for the majority of the overnight hours. It may be that some of the coldest spots by sunrise will be near Lake Okeechobee rather than further north as high pressure looks most likely to be centered over the big lake near sunrise. Return, southerly flow further north and west may actually keep that area (NW Florida) warmer in comparison. Freezing temperatures will likely be restricted to inland areas away from either coast but not be nearly as widespread as the past two mornings. The air mass is still pretty dry, so a quick drop in temperatures will commence as the sun gets low to the horizon late this afternoon. The driest of air could be on the move as well, and frost might be an agricultural concern well inland..."strawberry fields forever", hope so.

In fact, contingent upon how fast the high pressure area continues its ESE push off the Florida East Coast, some areas...especially along the coast from Cape Canaveral to Miami might bottom out sometime during the wee hours and maybe even go up a few degrees before sunrise. All in all, not shabby for one last fling at the truly cold stuff. Regardless to whether any warm up can occur before sunrise along the East and Southeast coas or not.....

THAWSDAY: Big warm up in store. We can pack away the thermal underwear, wool caps, gloves, and Gortex face masks (doesn't everyone have one of those in Florida?). Temperatures a good 5-8 degrees warmer for the most part as a starter to the day once out the door, and warming by 10 degrees more than today by afternoon with a SSW-SW wind a'blowin' gently under continued mostly clear skies.

For example, most areas will see the temperature rise by about 35 degrees tomorrow between 7AM - 2PM! Highs in the upper 60s widespread with lower 70s likely restricted for those in the south half of Brevard County and all points south. Expecting temperatures along the coast to remain in the 40s tonight along the US1 to A1A corridor up and down the east coast other than near J-Ville.

Either way, those 10 degrees in the afternoon (warmer than today) are going to make a big difference tomorrow. I draw the line when it gets below 67F (something magical about that temperature) when it comes to the temperature at any time, day or night.

FRYDAY: Well, maybe not quite that warm, but the intent is all good. Temperatures in the 70s becoming more widespread with lows along the coasts in the mid-upper 50s but likely in the 40s west of I-95. Partly cloudy skies with rains in the Panhandle and WSW winds around 12-18mph during the afternoon. Great way to end the work week.

SATURDAY: Nice, warm start to the day with clouds on the increase. Rains and maybe some thunderstorms should already be underway across the Panhandle and most of North Florida at sunrise, which will be moving east and south throughout the day. Looks like they should enter the Orlando area near noon time or shortly thereafter and rapidly engulf the remainder of South and Central Florida during the remainder of the day and into the night. Once the rain starts it might be tough to be rid of it...so if venturing out earlier in the day it might be wise to head out prepared for rain by early afternoon, if not sooner. Due to the cloud cover and evaporative cooling of rainfall likely evaporating before reaching the ground initially, don't believe high temperatures will make it quite as warm as those on Friday. Good chance of rains until midnight going in to Sunday.

SUNDAY: Front will be passing through at daybreak, and now appears will be across South Florida. Timing on this system has been far from perfect so far, so undoubtedly refinement of the rain and cloud clearing details will be required in tomorrow's post. This won't be a big, polar blast like the last one...but it will be cooler again by Monday with highs back below what we'd expect on a "normal' day...something like lows in the 40s and high in the 60s for a good portion of next week or almost 10 degrees below normal.

Another front approaches around Wednesday, but at this point appears will have little impact other than to entrench the temperatures already in place with a shot of cloud cover during its passing.