South Florida has flirted with cold fronts a few times this fall, but never really got one. This weekend we should get (a little) lucky, as forces are aligning for the first cold front of the year to actually reach the region.
A front will be descending across the South and into Florida, but it will get a little extra push in the coming week from a low off the coast of the Carolinas. That low’s counter-clockwise spin will push cooler dry air in behind the front. That cool dry air will surge south of Orlando and reach South Florida, starting Saturday.
“It won’t feel like fall, but we’ll see a little bit of dip because this front will actually make it through (to South Florida),” said Sammy Hadi, meteorologist with the Miami office of the National Weather Service. “It’ll be the first one to do so this year.”
Meteorologist Chris Fisher, also the National Weather Service, said mid-October is when we normally start to see fronts like this having a cooling impact on South Florida.
Saturday evening, overnight temperatures should reach low 70s on the coast and upper 60s inland.
The National Weather Service’s long-term forecast said “the upcoming weekend should experience what we could call the first hint of fall season weather behind the front.” The cooler air behind the front should drop maximum daytime temperature to the low to mid 80s, a reprieve from summery autumn thus far. Overnight lows may drop into the upper 60s to low 70s, said the forecast.
Inland areas will be cooler than the coast throughout Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
Humidity will ease as well, said Fisher, with dewpoint dropping from the low to mid 70s to the upper 60s or lower. Dewpoints of 55 to 60 are considered pleasant, 60 to 65 is comfortable, according to the NWS.
“It’s not a significant drop off, but it’s enough for people to notice,” said Fisher. “It’ll feel fairly comfortable. Not as good as some of the strong fronts we see in the middle of winter, but it’s a good start for this time of year.”
“This isn’t a really strong front,” said Fisher. “That’s why we’re only going to see a negligible drop in temperature and humidity. The stronger fronts usually come in the wintertime when we start getting arctic air dropping down from Canada into the U.S. We’re not quite there yet.”
Fisher said the slightly cooler and drier air should stick with us through midweek next week.
The front will also impact Tropical Storm Jerry, helping to push it north and back east, away from the U.S. east coast.
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