JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Increasing moisture and a shortwave moving in from the Gulf will prompt waves of rain across some of our area this weekend. The heaviest and most frequent rain will be over inland Southeastern Georgia. Northeastern Florida will see between a quarter of an inch of rain and an inch.
The Weather Authority Meteorologist Richard Nunn says, "While the entire area will see increasing rain chances, it's the Suwannee River and across southeast Georgia that will pick up the highest totals along with an increasing chance of isolated severe storms Saturday and Sunday afternoon."
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Late Friday night clouds build across our area. Expect a few showers along I-75 after midnight. As we move into dawn, we may see showers over inland Southeastern Georgia. Showers begin to threaten Northeastern Florida during the early afternoon. We expect a round or two of showers to push through, nearly area-wide by Saturday night.
Between rounds of showers we will warm up rather impressively for this time of the year. Expect to top out in the low 70s on Saturday and the low 80s on Sunday. The near record breaking highs Sunday, in combination with a few other factors, will lead to the possibility of a few severe thunderstorms. The most likely area to see the stronger storms are inland Northeastern Florida to interior Southeastern Georgia.
Expect Sunday's rain to be more sporadic and less widespread, but the storms that do fire up will be a bit more intense.
Chief Meteorologist John Gaughan explains, "Blame your Saturday rains on El Niño. The subtropical jet stream is stronger than typical during an el Niño. So, when a warm front lifts northward through the area, the warm front is energized by the sub-tropical jet stream. For some, rains will be heavy, up to 2”! Looking ahead to the rest of the winter, Saturday’s wet weather will likely to be repeated a number of times the next few months all due to the on going El Niño .”