ORLANDO, Fla. – Saturday is set to conclude on a high note here in town, with mostly clear skies and comfortable temps settling in once again.
Tomorrow a bit of change is in store, as well as later this upcoming week.
But it’s for a good cause!
There’s a storm system sweeping through the southern plains and the Deep South tonight, driving heavy rains, high winds, and severe thunderstorms. While we’re not slated to receive any of these specific threats, we are in for some rain and a subtle cool down as we start the final week of October.
Tomorrow afternoon we’ll start to see clouds bubble up some as we get towards the noon hour, with showers and maybe a few isolated thunderstorms brewing towards the warmest portions of the afternoon.
Models are a little split on where these rains could form, some keeping them entirely loaded to the south of our viewing area, others trying to lift them north into Polk, Osceola, Brevard, Orange, Seminole, and Volusia counties. We’ll be sitting within winds switching to a southeasterly direction, moving towards the west.
There’s a weak leftover front marinating over southern Florida, and as the winds shift this will help nudge it towards the north helping ramp up the potential to get some rain.
But, they’ll have to battle dry air still hanging out well above the surface level. So while we’re feeling muggy and may see some rains here and there, overall it won’t be a wash out type of Sunday nor are we under the gun for any severe thunderstorms of any kind.
Monday gives way to an extension of this set up, with that same front trying to lift north settling in almost directly overhead.
Then the system currently impacting the south arrives, helping generate a bit more rain overall. We clear out in time for Tuesday and Wednesday.
But here comes the best part. Late Wednesday into Thursday the real cold front arrives – the real cold front being the emphasis here.
Temperatures will drop well below the average here for Thursday night, Halloween night, and through the first weekend of November. Highs may barely make it into the low 70s, and overnight lows will work their way as far down as the low to mid 50s!
If you’re planning on getting out for Halloween, this is probably one of the best forecasts I’ve seen in a while for a Central Florida Halloween night. Or if you’re not one to celebrate the spooky season, nevertheless take FULL advantage of getting out and doing some fall festivities around town!
Now, a bit of a shift of gears, turning our attention to the tropics.
Melissa’s rapid intensification is underway. We started our day with a high end tropical storm, and tonight we’re well on our way to a major hurricane.
Jamaica looks to receive a direct hit by a category four if not a category five major hurricane, for an extended period of time. Then east Cuba, the Turks and Caicos, and Bahamas will take what’s left of hurricane Melissa as it picks up some speed and ejects out into the Atlantic.
I’m also tracking another weak signal for the first 10-15 days of November. Despite how bizarre and abnormal this hurricane season has behaved, it doesn’t officially conclude until November 30th. While we’re into the home stretch, I don’t anticipate we can take our foot off the throttle just yet.