ORLANDO, Fla. – Is this the Florida weather you signed up for? Are you one to want all the sunshine, heat, humidity, everything rather symbolic of what you imagine Central Florida is known for?
Or, are you on the opposite side of the field where you encourage the cooler weather and a bit of a “seasonal” change? Albeit that’s like pulling teeth around these parts given Florida’s climate nature.
Well, I’ve got some news for you and it’s either going to make you very happy or I may get a couple of fun emails in my inbox here very soon!
Our next cold front is on the way. It’s currently positioned over the Gulf coast states extending back northeastward towards the Appalachians. Along the leading edge there’s a low-end severe weather risk given all the moisture and warmer air out in front of it as it races southward.
Over us that same warm air remains. Tonight we’ll be on the mild and somewhat muggy side, especially as we start to feel that classic “pre-frontal” influence. Winds will start to generally flow out of the south and west, with warmer temps hanging with us even well into the overnight hours and early Sunday morning.
All this additional moisture and leftover high pressure ridging will likely produce the grand finale of all this morning fog we’ve dealt with through the previous workweek and your Saturday morning.
It looks to hug our western counties and try to fan out further eastward. So be on the lookout for the fog as you wander out the door tomorrow morning for breakfast, church, or if you’re like me and sometimes hit the gym or get outdoors for some morning exercise.
Then by lunch time, our viewing area begins to see the movement of that cold front across town. Winds will immediately pick up and transition to a more northerly direction once its finished pummeling its way southeastward through all this subtropical air.
That front will act to shoo all that fog away and welcome in cooler, drier conditions by nightfall.
Tomorrow late afternoon and early evening plan for some breezy conditions. Into the evening the coolest air won’t have arrived quite yet, but the nighttime will have a noticeable bite alongside the leftover post-frontal winds coming in from up north.
Then, get this – we won’t be dropping into freezing temperature territory this time. Which is outstanding news! These huge swings in weather are a great way to give the nasty flu bug going around an advantage.
Thankfully, the temps will drop but it won’t be as dramatic, especially once we get into the afternoon hours.
However, this cooldown will be with us for quite a bit longer. Gone are the days where chilly weather sticks around Central Florida for a day or two at best. In fact, I’m not seeing any upper 70 or low 80 degree afternoon high’s for a little while.
We could very well have turned the corner to the true commencement of winter here in the Sunshine state.
We’re also seeing a greater chance of much-needed rainfall by Wednesday. Even more stellar news as drought conditions continue to slow but steadily increase through the area.
As the jet stream remains configured rather aggressively, flowing much further south near the state of Florida and the rest of the southeast, this will help generate a bit more energy in the pattern creating additional pushes of moisture from the Gulf.
The Gulf, being a massive body of water, has plenty of moisture and believe it or not - heat - to go around. So rain chances are climbing for Wednesday. More on that to come, for now let’s get through this cold front and see what Sunday and Monday have in store for us!