Friday started with a hefty dose of cold air and partly cloudy skies. Through the afternoon a light southerly wind will drag in a bit of humidity which will help to cure the raw feel to the air. Highs today will jump to seasonal levels, also thanks to the southerly wind, in the low and middle 60s. Tonight, the big changes happen; clouds will thicken after sunset with widespread rain taking over the area between 1am and 2am. We’re still not overly concerned with severe weather; the elements to support such storms will stay mostly over the water. That said, a few strong storms with 40-50mph wind gusts may skirt area beaches and penetrate the eastern big bend. The rain will end around sunrise (~7:33) or shortly after with chilly air quickly filtering in. As a result, the warmest part of the day will be in the morning when we’re in the low 60s; we’ll spend the afternoon in the low and middle 50s with clearing skies. Sunday will be sunny, cool and dry starting with morning lows in the 30s and afternoon highs in the 50s. The start of 2013 is looking more and more unsettled as we get a train of disturbances to bring scattered showers to the region. New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day we’ll avoid the big stuff, but a few isolated showers may spring up west of Gadsden County. We’ll have a better chance at widespread rain Tuesday afternoon through the middle of next week. Stay tuned and have a great weekend!
-Meteorologist Sean Parker
