It’s seems appropriate for Groundhog day: For the second day in a row, the cold weather in Central Florida is breaking records.
“Cold arctic air has once again tied or broken daily low temperature records and broken coldest low temperature records for the month of February in a couple of spots,” the National Weather Service in Melbourne said on Monday.
All but one of the major reporting stations in Central Florida broke daily low-temperature records, making this the coldest Feb. 2 since record-keeping began in the late 1800s. Leesburg’s 29 degrees was the outlier, only tying the record for the day set in 1980.
Orlando’s 28 degrees Monday morning broke the record of 32 set in 1980. Sanford had a low of 27, breaking its record of 33 set in 1980, and Daytona Beach’s 25 was colder than the record of 32 set in 1980.
Melbourne’s low of 24 degrees and Fort Piece’s 23 set all-time low temperature records for the month of February for both locations. The old records were 25 degrees for Melbourne set just last year on Feb. 1, and it was 25 for Fort Piece, set on Feb. 5, 1996.
An Extreme Cold Weather Warning was still in effect for all of Central Florida until 10 a.m. on Monday.
High temperatures are forecast to reach the mid to upper 50s today across Central Florida, before the mercury drops back down near freezing overnight.
NWS Melbourne said those in the Orlando area should expect widespread frost after 1 a.m. with a low around 32. Frost should melt by 9 a.m. on Tuesday with a high of 64 expected.