Weather highlights for the week ahead:
** frontal boundary oscillates over the area through midweek
** rain will inch its way towards Jax
** a strong shot of cold for the weekend
First....the frontal boundary:
A weak cold front will sag into NE Fl. through Tue. then become stationary a little either side of I-10. This front will be responsible for a wide range of weather conditions from north to south across the First Coast. Rain will be widespread north of the front across much of SE Ga. to near the Fl./Ga. border. Rain over NE Fl. will be much more widely scattered. Temps. will range from the upper 50s at Waycross to the low 80s at Gainesville! There could be as much as a 10-15 degree temp. spread just north to south across Duval Co.
By late afternoon/early evening, the front will start to move back north as a warm front, & the warmer, more humid air will spread northward again.
Then an area of low pressure will move east/northeast along the front through Ga. Wed. This low will push a cold front through the First Coast along with showers & a few t'storms. By Wed., the system will be moving along so rainfall -- though widespread -- will not last particularly long so amounts will be less. Looking at a storm total avg. (through Wed.) of 1-2", locally 3"+ across SE Ga.....75-1.5" near the Fl./Ga. border....0.30-0.75" for NE Fl. & metro Jax.
Temps. will turn a little cooler for late week -- Thu. & Fri. then much colder by the weekend. Some of the coldest air of the winter so far could move in Sat.-Mon. Temps. will struggle to get out of the 50s by Sun. with gusty N/NW winds. Lows early Sun. will dip into the low to mid 30s inland, but the coldest day will likely be Mon. morning with some inland areas down into the 20s. A little light sleet &/or snow could occur Sat. night just north of the First Coast.
I mentioned last week that the weather pattern across the U.S. -- & First Coast -- was becoming much more active. This pattern change is well underway & helped ignite a weekend severe weather outbreak including a powerful EF-4 tornado that smashed Hattiesburg, MS. Click here for a preliminary storm survey from Jackson, MS that includes radar imagery. Click ** here ** for video of the tornado.
Speaking of severe weather....this week is Severe Weather Awareness Week in Fl. -- click here for info. from the Fl. Division of Emergency Management. In a poster contest for this week, Stuart McAfee from St. Mark's Episcopal Day School in Jax was the winnter for Region 3 -- congrat's! Severe weather topics include lightning, marine hazards, tornadoes, thunderstorms, hurricanes, flooding, wildfires & extreme temps. Click ** here ** to download a severe weather awareness guide.
