ORLANDO, Fla. – The weekend weather had just a subtle bite to it, and even some much-needed rain for many of us. Monday afternoon will unveil above normal high temperatures in Central Florida trying to quickly climb back toward 80 degrees. We could very well see 80+ degrees by Wednesday!
But for the first time since the cooler weather arrived, we’ve flipped the script a bit.
Lately, we’ve dealt with very short but strong blasts of frigid air coming down across our area before temperatures rapidly rebound back to the Florida gold standard.
Into the upcoming weekend and especially next week, that could change a little. Our above average afternoon highs may only linger until about Friday before swinging back down low Saturday through Sunday.
Another winter storm is brewing up north and is likely to rocket out of the central Rocky Mountains into the Great Plains by early Friday morning. While the low pressure itself won’t deal us much influence, the cold front being dragged along its southern flank is what’s going to whack us with the next wave of polar air.
Our highs could plummet a good 10-15 degrees between Saturday and Sunday, and even further than that as we move into Monday, Jan. 12.
What’s interesting about this event is our computer models and long-range “teleconnections” are implying we could see a few reinforcing shots of cooler weather after this first front comes down.
That would mean average if not below average morning lows and afternoon highs stick around far longer than the 2-3 day stints we’ve observed up to this point.
Also - a quick crash course on that fancy term I used a couple lines above - a teleconnection if you break it in half is a way for us meteorologists to draw conclusions on what our weather could look like locally by examining the big picture pattern.
“Tele” means “from a distance” and connection we’re all very familiar with. Distant weather phenomena that are all connected together that influence the way our patterns behave not only here in Central Florida but from as wide of a view as the entire eastern half of the country.
The few different puzzle pieces I like to check out throughout fall or winter are showing signals that cold air could try becoming a more frequent occurrence through the mid-portions of January. Then another warm spell looms on the horizon approaching February.
So if you’re a big fan of the usual warmth Florida has to offer, enjoy the week ahead! No one, not even Mother Nature, can take that from you!
But then, down the pike a ways, colder temps are set to return to the neighborhood.