Fantastic to Freezing in Many Areas by Saturday Morning!

November 10, 2011

What a beautiful day it turned out to be! You can give your regards to Tropical Storm Sean that will pose no threat to any land areas. It slowed down our weather pattern just enough for us to squeeze in one more nice warm day! It officially hit 80 in Orange Park. It also provided surfers including Chief Meteorologist Tim Deegan with ideal clean lines of 5 to 7 feet plus. He is still smiling! I have a big grin too because we have a great weather pattern for meteorologists! Check out what the strongest cold front of the season is going to do to our temperatures!

We will free fall nearly 50 degrees between now and Saturday morning. If you look closely you will see the kids all bundled up in the background with hot chocolates. Not only do I have a hot chocolate advisory in effect but our first frost and freeze of the season is on the way by Saturday morning. You will really start noticing a difference this evening as the winds kick up and the temperatures start to plummet. If you are heading to the fair dress warmly as temperatures fall into the 50s but wind chills will be in the 40s. This front will not bring much rain. I think most of us stay dry and those that do see rain, it will not be enough to wet the pavement. But this front will make up for its lack of moisture with our coldest temperatures of the season. Keep in mind by morning it is a good thing many kids are off tomorrow. Wind chills will drop to near freezing. If you are taking your kids to the Veterans Day Parade like I am make sure to get out the red, white, and blue winter gear with temperatures only expected to be in the middle 50s with a north wind at 10 to 20 mph making it feel much colder! When and where will our actual freezes occur? Here are the latest freeze watches. 

The official freeze watches are for all of southeast Georgia west of I-95 and most of North Florida away from the river and ocean. Keep in mind western Putnam and Clay Counties could also see a heavy frost and freezing temperatures. I am expected teeth-chattering upper 20s from Jasper to Waycross. Near 30 from Gainesville to Starke, Mcclenny and Nahunta. Temperatures will hit 32 from Keystone Heights and even portions of western Putnam County to western Duval, Jax airport, and most of Nassau County west of A1A. Mandarin, St. Johns and areas along the rivers and beaches will see lows closer to 40 degrees. I will keep you posted.

Now while I am not calling for snow, since it will be clear, crisp and calm we will have a heavy frost here at home tomorrow night. In Lafayette, Indiana Justin New was kind enough to snap this picture of their first "graupel" snow. This tells you our front has a ton of cold air aloft. It is moving our way and will work its way to the ground. You stay warm and stay tuned!