Central Florida is home to a mixed bag of folks from a variety of walks of life! But one thing we generally have in common - we all appreciate Florida for its protection and the shield it provides from the nasty nature of the winter season.
One thing we never TYPICALLY have to worry about is winter storms. Unless, of course, you’re in the panhandle, where we’ve seen now two consecutive winters that have produced snow and other wintry conditions.
In our area, closer to Orlando, our temperatures do have a tendency to fluctuate dramatically.
We’re about to experience another wonderful case of this over the next week and some change.
I also want to point out, time is already RIPPING by like the winds we felt during Hurricane Milton of 2024. As I’m putting this article together for all of you at home, I can’t help but pause and think to myself, “How is it already the home stretch towards February”?
That’s precisely what I want to hone in on. As we get closer to turning the page of all of our brand new 2026 calendars, our local weather is going to see some back and forth in typical Florida fashion.
Before we talk temperatures, I do want to point out I’m noticing a positive trend in our rainfall chances. Over the course of two weeks, we could see a few different days where rain ends up back in your forecast.
This is much-needed and a welcome sight, considering drought conditions are still on the uptick despite some of the rains we’ve received here and there.
Now, into this weekend, we’ll be able to start stripping some of this cold-weather gear off both in the afternoon but also in the mornings. By Saturday and Sunday, our morning lows will likely level out around the low 60s.
You may still experience some cooler mornings if you’re up north towards Lake, Sumter, Marion, and Alachua counties, however.
But for the Orlando metro area and four corners area, we’ll be trending back into above-average afternoon highs as we get through the last FULL weekend of January.
That’s when, as usual, we take a dive.
A rule of thumb for you at home, if you’d like to become your own cold front forecaster for your loved ones - whenever you read things like “warm up” or “a return of milder temps”, especially during the wintertime, you can usually assume that means we’re out in front of a winter system.
Eventually, temps will drop once again.
Where there’s warmth, there’s always a driver for it. In this case, a massive and near-nationwide winter storm is about to unfold. That’s going to drive our temperatures up and up until we can get on the backside of it.
From Tuesday on through to February 1st, and even beyond there, we’ll be seeing some pretty frigid morning temps. The afternoon will only provide so much relief. Generally, we’ll wake up to mid to upper 30s on a number of days, and then the warmest (relatively warmest anyway) sections of the afternoon should creep up to the low to mid 60s.
So I’d highly encourage you not to start stowing jackets or coats just yet. I would also recommend you keep up with your healthy eating as best you can, and supplement with additional vitamins and minerals as best you can.
The flu is running rampant, as is the common cold. I am still recovering from a vicious chest cold because of the freezing temperatures I’ve been exposed to.