Florida Weather

[NDG]

The good news is that for us in the Orlando area the forecast of freezing temps is a duration of only 1-3 hrs. With winds forecasted to stay up and low dewpoints frost will not be a problem at all. I can take a short duration light freeze than a night of calm winds, temps in the low 30s with heavy frost which seem to give the most damage to tender vegetation.

[FireRat]

Mixing kept the low fixed at 40 here last night, had a very slow temp rise since morning, and now is only 53 out there, with lots of wind. Very cool day indeed, and right now our dew point is just 20 degrees. This is amazingly low for us and it has been dropping over the last few hours, might see them fall to the teens very soon. It surely will be very cold tonight, any way you slice it!

[NDG]

Not too often that you see dewpoints down to the teens in Miami while Naples have dewpoints in the 30s.

[psyclone]

my point and click came up a notch to 30. the dewpoint @ KPIE is 31. I wonder if we'll make tonight's low..

[gatorcane]

Look at that - 10s for dew points across SE Florida. That is rare for sure! Pysclone, the wind direction there is still NW...but models think the winds will gradually lighten (some) and turn to the N or NNE. If that happens, that would allow dew points to fall further across your area since the winds will no longer be coming off the Gulf.

[northjaxpro]

Just getting home and a look at my thermometer shows the max temp so far today only 43.2 degrees. Currently 41.2 degrees. Definitely looks as if we have set a record low maximum today. NWS Jax indicated the record low max for today was 47 degrees. That has been shattered. In terms of temperature maximums, this was the second coldest day of this winter season here. Only Jan 8, the day we had that ocean-effect light snow event here, was the coldest of the season with a max that day here of only 38 degrees. Winds also are beginning to ease off , now around 10-15 mph currently from the north.

There will be many records shattered tomorrow morning across Florida and many areas of the Southeast and Eastern portions of the United States. I am very impressed with this deep arctic air mass. Dewpoints right now all across North Florida are well into the single digits.
Temps will plummet tonight. All depended on the winds. If the winds can go light enough, which is expected over interior areas, we may see upper teens across the colder portions of North Florida. NWS Jax is sticking by 20 degrees for tomorrow morning. Temps should get below freezing by 8 :00- 8:30 tonight, if not a bit quicker given it is already dropping.

As for the rest of the state, as I mentioned earlier this morning, the flow is due north and if the winds can get under 10 mph later tonight, that will improve radiational cooling later tonight. With the due north flow, this cold air will drain right down the spine of the peninsula, and with dewpoints in the teens and lowe r20s down across central and southern areas of the peninsula, we are looking at potentially a mighty cold night and early Friday morning down state. I agree with the freeze warnings across all interior South Florida away from the immediate SE FL coastal regions. Potential is there for temps to drop into the upper 20s across the I-4 corridor, and areas like Brooksville and along the Nature Coast could see temps going down to the mid 20s. The freeze line dipping down to and surrounding Lake Okeechobee looks like a good possibilty tomorrow morning.

Going to be a fascinating night monitoring the temperatures. Back later...

[psyclone]

tough to find a silver lining here but the later sunset and earlier sunrise certainly counts.

[asd123]

In the Orlando area, consensus of low temps appears to be around 30 degrees for tonight. Western central Florida appears to be forecasted mid 20s.

High level cirrus clouds have invaded the Central Florida area. Will this inhibit radiational cooling? What do ya'll think?

[FireRat]

Dew point just hit 19

52 degrees out here, the sun will be down in an hour and the temps should fall fast!
How low will ge go?

[psyclone]

I see the cirrus but I don't think they're going to last very long after checking a sat loop...kind of a small area and they're moving fast.. certainly something to watch though.

[northjaxpro]

I doubt those thin high clouds will do much to inhibit temps tonight asd123. Tonight is all about the wind. If the wind goes light, and with the extremely low dewpoints statewide with this cold arctic airmass , temps will really drop tonight.

[asd123]

I doubt those thn high clouds will do much to inhibit temps tonight asd123. Tonight is all about the winds. If they go light, and with the extremely low dewpoints statewide with this cold arctic airmass , temps will really drop tonight.

Cirrus clouds are thinning out, apparently, so bring on the cold!!!

[NDG]

Yeap, those high thin clouds look anemic, they wouldn't do much.
Our only saving grace is that heights are forecasted to start rising tonight and if winds stay up it will prevent perfect radiational cooling from taking place because of those low dewpoints.

[asd123]

:uarrow: Yeap, those high thin clouds look anemic, they wouldn't do much.
Our only saving grace is that heights are forecasted to start rising tonight and if winds stay up it will prevent perfect radiational cooling from taking place because of those low dewpoints.

On second thought, those clouds don't appear to be thinning much

[NDG]

:uarrow: Yeap, those high thin clouds look anemic, they wouldn't do much.
Our only saving grace is that heights are forecasted to start rising tonight and if winds stay up it will prevent perfect radiational cooling from taking place because of those low dewpoints.

On second thought, those clouds don't appear to be thinning much

12z Euro shows clear skies after 10-11 pm through the rest of the night.

[northjaxpro]

Yeah, those thin cirrus clouds down there will move out rapidly as the night progresses. That will be no factor tonight.

Temp now 39.4 degrees . There will be a rapid drop in temps in the next couple of hours as the sun is setting and temps should be at freezing at my locale by 8:00.

[northjaxpro]

BTW, asd123. those high cirrus clouds are the result of the polar jet associated with the backside of the anomalously deep upper trough, as we are at the very base of it right now. The deep trough axis will begin to slowly shift east beginning tomorrow morning.

[asd123]

You know Central Floridians, after this cold, we still have hope. The coldest and latest time it's been for Orlando was 27 on March 14, 1932. Also, a couple of days later it hit 30 on March 16, 1932. March 15, 1932 (33 degrees) saw record lows too. http://www.wunderground.com/history/air ... .wmo=99999

To see details click on number date on calendar.

Image Courtesy of Wunderground:

[Scorpion]

Still don't think it gets below 32 in metro Orlando. Most likely the low will be about 35 or 36. They're calling for 31 in my locale.

[NDG]

You know Central Floridians, after this cold, we still have hope. The coldest and latest time it's been for Orlando was 27 on March 14, 1932. Also, a couple of days later it hit 30 on March 16, 1932. March 15, 1932 (33 degrees) saw record lows too. http://www.wunderground.com/history/air ... .wmo=99999

To see details click on number date on calendar.

Image Courtesy of Wunderground:

I rather have 90 degree record highs during March
Which by the way, I am still calling for a very warm end of Feb/early March as the PNA is forecasted by the ensembles unanimously to go negative over the next 2 weeks.