A generally mild temp. pattern will be interrupted a couple of times the next few days by a surge of east/northeast winds:
(1) surge #1 will be Fri. morning & will keep temps. cooler through early afternoon until west winds gradually take over & combine with increasing sun to boost temps. There will be a wide range from struggling to reach 60 at Brunswick to the 60s for metro Jax to 70+ between Highway 301 & I-75. By Sat., west winds will dominate making for yet another very mild Jan. (some 8 degrees above avg. for the month so far) day with highs in the 70s.
(2) a second & stronger surge of onshore winds will develop by Sun. with breezey east/northeast winds of 15-25 mph keeping temps. near 60 at the beaches (most of the day in the 50s)...mid 60s near the I-95 corridor & near 70 well inland.
Then we're in for several very mild days to start the week next week before a storm system approaches late Wed.-Thu. Forecast models are at odds with the intensity & track of the system. Recent model "issues" would point to a weaker, dryer system for the local area, but it's a system to keep an eye on.
A gorgeous sunset Thu. evening. Check out the Action News skycam from the Landing:
Some news from the National Hurricane Center:
** 2 proposals that have been worked on & discussed for several years are gaining momentum & could be adopted within the next 1-2 years.
(1) issuing hurricane & tropical storm warnings even as a storm becomes extratropical if significant effects to land are expected. This issue has come up before but has been put on the fast track due to "Sandy" last year.
(2) issuing storm surge advisories &/or warnings. This change has been in the works for a number of years beginning with the active 2004 & '05 seasons.
Click here for a very good discussion of these proposals from the Nat. Hurricane Center.
** Webinars with hurricane center scientists & forecasters are available for 5th grade teachers & classrooms this spring -- click here for the info.
** 2102 tropical cyclone reports (storm summaries) have been concluded through 'R' - "Rafael" -- click here for the list. So the two storms that directly affected the First Coast -- "Beryl" & "Debby" have been researched (click on each name).
