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Projected lows for the next seven days in West-Central Florida will be stuck in the 40s, with some lows in the mid-30s in Brooksville. (Image credit: NWS-TampaBay)
ORIGINAL POST: Bundle up for a cool weekend and a cool upcoming week with lows mostly dipping into the 40s in South Florida and only rising into the mid-60s for highs.
Normal highs are in the mid- to upper-70s this time of the year but we won’t see weather that warm until late in the week, according to the National Weather Service.
“The primary short-term weather concern is focused on low temperatures for late tonight into Sunday morning,” forecasters in Miami said Saturday morning. “Trends have been holding steady over the past few days, and while it will be cool, tonight’s lows don’t appear to be quite on par with some of the colder nights we`ve had so far this winter. That said, readings will be on the cool side.”
Forecast lows:
Lake Okeechobee/northern inland areas: lower to mid 40s;
Gulf Coast/coastal Collier County: around 50;
Palm Beach metro: upper 40s;
Miami/Broward metro: around 50;
Southern inland areas/far western Miami/Broward metro: upper 40s.
Forecast lows in Orlando and parts of Central Florida will be stuck in the 40s through Thursday morning.
Parts of North Florida were under a Freeze Watch for Sunday morning, and lows will linger in the 30s through at least Wednesday morning.
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CALAMITY IN CALIFORNIA? Santee, California, northeast of San Diego, had the nation’s high on Friday with 96. It was 92 in Anaheim, 94 in Vista and 88 in San Diego itself, an all-time high for January.
Punishing Santa Ana winds were gusting as high as 87 mph on Friday, an unusual January occurrence that has prompted wild fire concerns during what is normally the area’s wet season.
The last major rainfall in Southern California was just after Christmas, and it’s been drying out since then. Some brush fires have already popped up, and more strong and dry winds forecast for next week are expected to increase fire threats.
“It’s been so incredibly dry through the fall and winter that fuels are still incredibly dry,” Joe Sirard, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, told The Washington Post on Friday. “If we’d had lots of rain in December and everything was all green now, I don’t think we’d think much about fire weather.”