Strongest Cold front of the season arrives! Get out the Jackets!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

It is easy to pick out the big changes on the way. Notice the wavy clouds over the Gulf of Mexico. These are cold air stratocumulus clouds caused by rapid, intense cooling of the atmosphere and this polar air mass is being ushered in by a cold front that is now howling through the area with wind gusts of 35 mph and brief heavy downpours.

We may have missed out on the severe weather last night but we are not missing out on one of the strongest surges of cold air this early in the season on record. I am heading to the attic to find the family jackets which will be a necessity by morning. The record for Jacksonville is 40 set back in 1989. I do not think it will get that cold at the airport. We will have too much wind and not totally clear out the clouds until the wee hours of the morning. This will keep lows in Jacksonville closer to the middle 40s with near 50 at the beaches and along the river. But, sure the normally coldest spots from Cecil Field into interior Georgia could see lows easily drop to near 40. The coldest morning will likely be Friday. I will be back to explain why and even show you the beautiful pumpkin moon pictures from this past weekend. So how strong is this front? Five-thousand foot temperatures will be dropping 2 to 3 degrees per hour for the next 12 hours. That tells me COLD AIR ADVECTION means business and this chilly autumn air mass may be here to stay for a few days. Have a great afternoon and stay warm!