It’s so cold in Florida that the weather service is warning of falling frozen iguanas
“No shoes, no shirt, no service.”
This week the National Weather Service adds a couple of items: “if you must venture outdoors, make sure you wear a hat and gloves.”
That’s because it’s cold and getting colder.
South Florida will be a bit warmer than other parts of Florida, like Jacksonville, which will dip to a freezing 32 degrees Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, and feel a good 10 degrees colder.
But even Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach are under a wind chill advisory since the really cold air will have moved over the state and, combined with brisk winds, the lows of mid-40s on Wednesday will feel like the 30s.
That’s the coldest for South Florida on a Jan. 22 in two years. That’s iguana-freezing weather.
The National Weather Service even issued a decidedly Florida-type alert.
“This isn’t something we usually forecast, but don’t be surprised if you see Iguanas falling from the trees tonight as lows drop into the 30s and 40s,” the service tweeted.
We’re all in this together.
Pensacola was already a below-freezing 31 degrees Tuesday morning, CBS4 meteorologist Lissette Gonzalez reported.
“Folks in the Panhandle and Big Bend are literally freezing right now with low 30s!” she said on Twitter Tuesday as she eyed the 40s across Central Florida and predicted lows in the 40s for South Florida by nightfall.
Bradenton’s wind chill overnight into Wednesday was expected to feel like a shivering 25 degrees.
The reason for the statewide chill? A developing low pressure system over the Atlantic north of the Bahamas has teamed with high pressure over the southeastern U.S. and that’s bringing real winter over the state after an unseasonably warm January so far.
“The cold air will be a reminder that January weather occasionally visits the Deep South,” AccuWeather meteorologists said on Tuesday.
“This will result in frost bite and lead to hypothermia if precautions are not taken,” the National Weather Service in Miami stressed. Think of things like huddling inside or seeking shelter, dressing in layers, taking in your pets and even some plants.
Rain chance, frost warnings
The upside is there is little to no chance of rain on the coldest couple of days to warrant frost warnings for South Florida’s agricultural communities — such as in Homestead and Florida City, where it was forecast to dip to 39 degrees with a wind chill of freezing and just below Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
But there is a freeze watch in Manatee County through 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Tampa. And also freeze warnings in Gainesville, where the low was expected to be 27 degrees Tuesday night and feel like 19 into Wednesday morning.
The days will bring clear, sunny skies across the state, with rain chances increasing Thursday on a warming trend — especially in Pensacola where the rain and thunderstorm chance is 90% Thursday night.
Significant rain isn’t expected in South Florida — just 20% — through at least Monday, according to the National Weather Service..
Orlando attractions
The cold front is having an effect on some of Florida’s lures.
Orlando’s theme parks are reacting to the big chill by closing some attractions. Lows are forecast to be 35 degrees into Wednesday with wind chills of 26 and winds up to 20 mph — hardly conducive to enjoying a splash at a park.
Walt Disney World’s Blizzard Beach, Universal Orlando’s Volcano Bay and SeaWorld Orlando’s Aquatica will be closed through Wednesday because of the fallen temperatures, Click Orlando reported.
Island H2O Live!, Margaritaville Resort Orlando’s water park, will also be closed Wednesday, Spectrum News 13 reported.
Seems the only region that doesn’t have a wind chill alert for Tuesday night and Wednesday is the Florida Keys island chain from Key Largo to Key West.
But even in Key West — though the center hasn’t issued an alert — a low of 46 that’ll feel like 38 degrees Tuesday night into Wednesday was expected.
Warming trend
Despite South Florida’s coldest temperatures in two years, the region won’t break any records. We’d have to hit 30 degrees to match the record Miami cold of Jan. 22, 1985, WPLG Local 10 reported.
▪ By Thursday, temperatures in Miami should be back into the mid-70s during the day and mid-60s at night into the weekend.
▪ Bradenton will range from 70 Saturday afternoon to 52 Saturday night.
▪ Gainesville’s highs and lows will fluctuate from 72 degrees Friday to a low of 46 that night.
▪ Pensacola will see at least a 20-degree spread from Friday’s high of 64 and its night low of 42.
This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 11:22 AM.
