National Weather Service forecasters are predicting lows in the 30s overnight on Saturday.
Photo by ucumari photography from Flickr
It’s time to break out your Uggs and puffer coats; this is not a drill. Forecasters are predicting temperatures will fall into the 30s over the weekend, with “feels-like” temperatures in the 20s.
An incoming cold front is set to disrupt South Florida’s typically balmy weather beginning Saturday night, with temperatures expected to dip into the mid-30s, National Weather Service (NWS) forecaster Ana Torres-Vazquez tells New Times. There’s a chance South Florida could see near-record lows if temperatures drop to 30 degrees, a record set in 1989, she says.
“Last time Miami temps dropped into the 30s was in 2010 at 35 degrees,” Torres-Vazquez tells New Times. “I don’t know if we’ll approach 30 degrees, but it is very possible this will be the coldest winter snap since December 2010.”
According to an NWS weather alert, “An arctic air mass that has been anchored over eastern Canada through late January is now being unleashed southward toward the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. The core of the arctic air is forecast to dive unusually far south into the southeastern U.S. this weekend before exiting the coast.”
There is also potential for South Florida to experience drastic lows on Sunday morning, when forecasters expect temperatures to drop to a chilly 36 degrees. There are slight chances of rain on Friday night and Saturday, arriving ahead of the cold front. And because the rain is expected before the vicious cold, there’s almost no chance for snow.
Since the moisture should be gone by the time the cold snap rolls in, forecasters don’t expect icy roads to be an issue for our notoriously bad drivers.
“The biggest threat is going to be the cold,” Torres-Vazquez tells New Times. “The feels-like temperature overnight Saturday into Sunday morning will be in the 20s. If you don’t have to be outside, don’t go outside.”
The cold front is expected to bring powerful winds through the region, so forecasters advise boaters to stay off the waters (which is probably easy advice to follow, considering the frigid conditions). Torres-Vazquez says temperatures should return to South Florida norms by midweek.