JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Holy cow! It's about to turn a little chilly around here so you'll want to be on the lookout for cows on your hood keeping warm by the heat from your engine before you leave in the morning. (Thanks Frank Billingsley for the funny pic.)
A significant cold front is on our doorstep and it is promising to wallop those who aren't adequately prepared.
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A very strong area of high pressure has dropped out of Canada bringing with it one of the coldest starts to Winter since 1996. Snow has been flying this morning from Chicago to Cleveland and Detroit to New York City. That snow is dropping south and flakes may fly in Charlotte and northern Georgia before it's over. Unprecedented.
The cold front will slip into the area overnight tonight while you sleep but when it arrives, it is going to roar through with very, very strong winds and much chillier temperatures.
Gale warnings are up for the coastal areas along with Lake Wind Advisories, Wind Advisories for our immediate area. Winds gusting as high as 35 to 40 mph, especially along the coast, will be possible. With those high winds will be a markedly sharp drop in the mercury.
While highs in the 50s aren't unusual in Jacksonville in November, it will be the first big cool down for our region this season. After highs in the mid 70s for your Tuesday, tomorrow's drop will feel all-the-more dramatic.
Expect high temperatures to struggle to get to the mid 50s tomorrow under mostly sunny skies. Temperatures will begin to fall by the late afternoon to the lowest we've seen this season. At this time, we are not anticipating a freeze in our viewing area but there are freeze watches just to our west for the Tallahassee viewing area.
Expect a quick rebound with high temperatures returning to the mid 70s by the weekend.
Looking ahead, the Euro model, seen at right, is indicating another significant polar cold front to barge into our area by next week returning us back to temperatures well below normal. We'll see if that pans out.
As for the day of the Gobbler, it looks to be very cold across the country---even in the deep south. This forecast is preliminary of course being that it is 16 days away but nonetheless, the promise of a much below normal winter (at least according to the Farmers Almanac) may be coming to fruition! Stay tuned.