Florida temperatures are about to drop. How cold will it get? What the forecast says
“It’s gonna be a cool night,” the old song says.
How cold will the front be?
After South Florida tops 80 degrees during a humid Thursday, Miami will drop to 63 at night, according to the National Weather Service. Homestead and Fort Lauderdale could dip to 62. West Palm Beach, cooler at 60.
Temperatures inland in Miami-Dade and Broward could drop to the upper 50s Thursday, said CBS Miami meteorologist Lissette Gonzalez.
Marathon, in the Florida Keys, set a high temperature record on Wednesday of 84, topping an 83 reading in 2007. But the cold front is expected to drop the low to 65 Thursday night. The front’s northerly breezes could bring a small craft advisory by Thursday evening, the weather service said.
Speaking of “marathon,” the Life Time Miami Marathon and Half Marathon is Sunday. Some 20,000 people will run through the streets of downtown Miami, South Beach and Coconut Grove.
“The weather should cooperate,” Gonzalez tweeted on Friday. She’s calling for a “comfortable” low 70s Sunday morning — about 71 at the start of the race. Breezy and mild with a few showers possible and highs in the low 80s.
The weekend’s highs and lows in South Florida will be closer together: a 76 and 78 high, Saturday and Sunday, and lows at 73 both nights.
The Keys follows a similar pattern: highs of 77 and 80, Saturday and Sunday, lows at 72 and 74, respectively.
The best chance for rain comes Thursday afternoon at 30% in South Florida then dwindles to 20% Friday and Sunday with otherwise clear skies for a week. The Keys eye a consistent 20% rain chance through Sunday.
How cold will it get around Florida? Here is a rundown:
Florida lows
Here are some lows around the state:
▪ Tampa Bay, Bradenton: The region’s low is 48 Thursday and the highs should barely nip 60, according to the weather service in Tampa. The pattern holds Friday before a warming trend over the weekend but lows will still be around 60. A high risk for dangerous rip currents is in effect through Thursday in several counties, including Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte and Lee.
▪ Orlando: Cinderella Castle may be cozy by its fireplace given that lows in the land of Disney and Universal are expected to be in the mid-40s Thursday and Friday and only climb to the mid-60s. Saturday’s low forecast is 56 and Sunday 64 degrees, with highs just over 70 Saturday and 80 Sunday, when there’s a 30% chance of rain.
▪ Gaineseville: Students on campus at the University of Florida will need their orange and blue sweatshirts and jackets as lows dip to 37 and 36 Thursday and Friday nights, respectively, with highs only around 60. The chill remains Saturday night at 49. But, as elsewhere, temperatures climb over the weekend with highs back to 78 and lows around 62 Sunday into Monday.
▪ Sanibel-Captiva: As some businesses reopen post Hurricane Ian they are doing so under clear, breezy skies. Lows are forecast at 53 Thursday — the same in Naples — and 60 on Friday. Highs won’t quite hit 70 Thursday or Friday but will get into the mid- and upper-70s, with lows about 10 degrees cooler on weekend nights through at least Wednesday.
When will it warm up?
The cold front isn’t extreme or lingering, with Tallahassee’s low just above freezing at 33 Friday. But even in Florida’s Panhandle, temperatures begin to climb Friday and into the weekend. Tallahassee gets into the low 70s by Monday after a likely wet Sunday 80% rain chance.
In South Florida, expect mild mornings into the weekend in the low-70s with highs in the upper-70s and low-80s by Sunday, said CBS Miami’s Gonzalez. “By early next week, it will be even warmer and more humid,” she said in her report.
The Florida Keys follow through with highs in the low-80s and mid-70s lows through Wednesday.
Cinderella Castle at Disney can quench its fireplace by Sunday as highs in Central Florida are back around 80 with lows at nights at 64 into mid-week.
This story was originally published January 26, 2023, 10:44 AM.
