A pretty quiet week of weather for the First Coast. Temps. will be pleasantly warm during the day (80s inland, upper 70s at the beaches) & nice & cool at night (50s inland, 60s @ beaches). The most prominent weather feature will be persistent onshore east to northeast winds that will be breezy at times helping to cause rough seas & surf & a high rip current risk at area beaches. While a few showers will move westward off the Atlantic at times, rain looks to be widely scattered & mostly light. A cold front will bring cooler temps. late in the weekend into early next week. So the weather looks decent for the Ga./Fl. game Sat.
The tropics are alive & well despite we're approaching Halloween & the last portion of the hurricane season. T.D. #19 could become "Tony" in the Central Atlantic but will not threaten any land areas. The storm of concern is "Sandy" in the Caribbean. This storm will get pulled north then northeast moving near Jamaica Wed., Eastern Cuba Thu. & the Central & Southern Bahamas Fri.-Sat. All indications are that "Sandy" will stay well east of Fl. but there will still be fringe effects primarily in the form of breezy onshore east/northeast winds, rough seas & surf & an elevated rip current risk. "Sandy" will have significant impacts on Jamaica, Eastern Cuba, Haiti & parts of the Bahamas. Click here to go to "Talking the Tropics With Mike" which is updated daily.
NOAA has issued their winter outlook. The wild card is whether or not a full blow El Nino will develop over the equatorial Pacific. The forecast for the First Coast is for below avg. temps. but above avg. rainfall. Much of the Western U.S. is forecast to have a mild winter with little relief from drought conditions in parts of the midwest. Click here for the NOAA report.
