A coastal storm expected to develop on the U.S. East Coast this weekend could drop more snow or a rain/snow mix along the Atlantic Seaboard, including a slight chance of snow flurries as far south as the Orlando area, according to some forecasters.
WESH 2’s Chief Meteorologist Tony Mainolfi said that one forecasting model for the weekend storm hints at the possibility of flurries just north of Orlando.
Wednesday afternoon and evening into Thursday will continue to be very cold in the Orlando area after temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s on Wednesday morning.
Then, after a brief reprieve the temperatures drop again with even colder weather on Sunday. Wind chill temperatures could plunge into the single digits or teens, Fox 35 said.
Sunday’s low is forecast to be 27 to 29 degrees — the coldest the city has seen in 16 years.
Saturday night into Sunday morning is the best chance to see flurries in the area, Mainolfi added.
Whether the Sunshine State sees any snow depends on if a storm develops off the East Coast and its strength, reports said.
In the past, when Central Florida has seen snowflakes or a wintry mix, it’s been caused by a low-pressure area developing off the Atlantic coast and sending moisture back toward the peninsula into “freshly-injected cold air” in the state and creating the wintry precipitation, News 6 forecasters said.
“A couple of models briefly depicted Gulf-effect flakes, cold air going over the relatively warm waters of the Gulf. This is the same mechanism that produces lake-effect snow along the Great Lakes,” News 6 said.
As of Tuesday morning, the Canadian forecast model was the only one suggesting snow flurries near Florida’s Gulf coast, forecasters said.
The European model briefly predicted a few snow flurries closer to Tampa, but they’ve dropped that forecast.
“For snowflakes to make it this far inland from the Gulf, the wind would almost have to be due west. If that were the case, warmer air would also start pushing in, lowering that chance further,” News 6 said. “Could it happen? Yes. Is it likely? Absolutely not.”
Denis Phillips, chief meteorologist for Tampa Bay 28, also weighed in on the possibility of Gulf-effect snow.
“Yes, it IS a thing. I’ve talked about it countless times … over the years. Folks up North know ‘Lake Effect Snow.’ It’s the exact same thing,” he wrote in a social media post. “When extremely cold air travels over the warm waters of the Gulf, it’s possible (although extremely uncommon) for snow flurries to develop along the coast.”
Phillips added, “Will it happen here this weekend? … Unlikely, but absolutely possible overnight Saturday night. It’s rare the air is cold enough for it to happen. This weekend, it might be.”