JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – I don't know about you but I was rumbled out of bed this morning around 2 a.m just as I was getting to the good part of my dream. Thanks mother nature. Moving on, we're going to be under a "skirt alert" for today with breezy conditions and falling temperatures (seen above are current temps as of 11 a.m.). More on that in a second.
Here's the breakdown:
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It was a wild, noisy night across the first coast as thunderstorms accompanied by a cold front raced through the region between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. There were no weather-related damage reports in the immediate area but just to our west, widespread trees were reported down by emergency managers in Columbia County. Trees were reported down at the intersection of Elim Church Road and southwest Centerville Ave causing a traffic accident. No injuries were reported.
Back to the skirt alert. There is clearly a lot of energy with the overall storm system. Check out some of these non-thunderstorm winds that are howling through the streets of Jacksonville and surrounding areas this morning:
It's going to be a breezy afternoon the rest of the day with cool, mostly cloudy skies so hit the 'do' with some of that firm hold, big and sexy hairspray. If not, you'll be dealing with a wild one alright but it won't be the weather!
Our thunderstorms were part of a much larger system that brought widespread snow to the deep south stretching from Dallas to Charlotte to Washington where the government will have a delayed start Thursday. The federal government delayed and held up? Color me shocked. It would be bigger news if they weren't.
As much as half a foot of snow fell near Shreveport, LA on Wednesday causing many to wonder in amazement what the white stuff covering the ground was. Snow fell across northern Mississippi where classes at Mississippi State University were canceled on Thursday due to widespread snow. Metro Atlanta officially received no snow at Hartsfield-Jackson International despite being under a winter storm warning much of Wednesday. Snow did fall on the north side of town from Marietta northward but no major issues were reported.
Further north, things weren't so peachy. The north Georgia mountains received between 7 and 10 inches south of Chattanooga stretching east to the South Carolina border. Snow has also blasted areas from Raleigh to Norfolk to DC.
Charlotte also missed much of the action recording only 1.7 inches of snow at Charlotte-Douglas International despite forecasts for higher totals. The winter storm warning was later downgraded to a winter weather advisory for both Charlotte and Atlanta where temperatures have remained above freezing.
JACKSONVILLE:
Seen in the top image, temperatures behind the cold front are falling. It fell into the 40s at all locations in southeast Georgia once the front passed by. Temperatures in our Florida zones have also fallen into the upper 40s this morning but probably won't fall too much more but rather will sort of hover where they are.
We'll be mostly cloudy a good portion of the day today although a few peaks of sun will be possible this afternoon with those breezy conditions persisting.
Overnight, no freezes are anticipated but we will remain rather chilly by Florida standards this time of year with highs in the upper 50s through Saturday. However, a big warm up is penciled in for early next week as spring tries to make its presence known heading into the first full week of March.
Rain chances are pretty much non-existent the rest of day Thursday and Friday (although folks in our far southern zones could still see some showers) but rain chances do return heading into the weekend and early next week. I certainly wouldn't cancel my plans over it but have a back up plan just in case.