Some of the coolest weather of the season is expected this weekend in South Florida, with the temperature plunging to the low 50s by Saturday night. The wind chill could make it actually feel cooler, down the 40s.
A cold front pushing through South Florida on Friday night will keep temperatures low, with highs only hitting the upper 60s throughout most of the region.
Saturday night and into Sunday morning will see the coolest temperatures, around the low 50s, and 40s, in some areas, and the apparent temperatures will feel much colder than the actual temperatures because of breezy weather.
“It’s going be one of the coldest mornings that we have seen during the season so far,” said Anthony Reynes, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
The impacts of a cold front that pushed through the area Wednesday night are already beginning to wear off, with high temperatures hitting the upper 70s and lower 80s on Friday until the weekend cold front delivers, Reynes said.
“It’s like a secondary shot of colder air that is coming, that next front,” he said. “It’s going to be stronger than the first one.”
This pattern is consistent with weather seen around this time of year, Reynes said.
The rather rapid fluctuations — it’s cool, then it’s hot again — can simply be explained by South Florida’s tropical environment, he said, with the nearness to the ocean making it difficult for cool weather to linger any longer than a few days at a time.
And in this case, the temperatures will begin to gradually warm up again next week, with the lows in the 60s on Monday morning and highs in the lower 80s by Wednesday.
“The cold air masses don’t remain cold for very long down here,” he said.
To some, the weather may appear to be “bouncing around a little bit,” said George Rizzuto, another National Weather Service meteorologist.
None of the recent cold fronts have been particularly strong, he said, and though people often expect drops into the 40s and 50s, the previous fronts have generally not been cold enough to bring the temperatures down that significantly.
“They’re not strong in the sense that they’re bringing a 30-degree temperature difference to the South Florida, but they are strong enough to make a notable difference in the high temperatures for the afternoon,” he said. “Maybe they’ll decrease the temperatures about eight to 10 degrees, which is notable in the afternoon times when you don’t have that super humid, hot air mass overhead.”
Beyond the cold, South Floridians can expect rainy conditions Thursday, with a few light showers possible as the next cold front approaches on Friday night.
“It’s recommended if you have plans that are sensitive to cold, to bring them indoors, keep your pets indoors. That’s very important,” Reynes said. “And just bundle up.”
