Florida Cold Brings Expected Freeze Threat Overnight

January 5, 2010 – Don’t be fooled by this picture, it’s been in the mid 50’s all day here in South Florida, and freezing temperatures are expected later tonight. The picture shows a misleading scene of a nice warm looking sun with coconut palms, but cold northwesterly winds continued to filter in well below normal cold weather for not only South Florida, but the entire state. Late afternoon hours on Tuesday had a range of temperatures from the lower 40’s in the Florida Panhandle, to the mid and upper 40’s in Central Florida. Even at 3pm, the temp in Key West, FL was 59°F.

The National Weather Service in Miami, FL issued earlier this afternoon, a Freeze Warning for metro Southeast Florida counties that include Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Temperatures are expected to fall near or at the freezing mark in the western suburbs of South Florida. Further north into Central Florida, there are Hard Freeze Warnings in place, as tonight’s low’s are forecasted to fall below 32°F for many hours. This will likely produce crop damage, and make for dangerous cold conditions for residents.

This will make for the third cold night in a row, and the coldest of the week in Florida. More possible arctic weather is on the horizon for Florida next week if the computer forecast models pan out.

Related Florida 2010 Freeze Posts: Florida Freeze Continues Tonight – Video and Pictures