How hot is it about to get in Florida? Why it’ll feel like summer so early in the year
Winter. Spring. Summer. Fall.
Except in Florida this week the old song could leave spring out and sing, “Winter, summer or fall/All you gotta do is call ...”
And the person you may want to call is your A/C repairman to make sure it’s cooling properly.
That’s because parts of Florida like the interior Everglades and Tampa will approach or reach temperatures in the 90s this weekend and into next week.
A wind advisory with gusts up to 35 mph was also issued Saturday for coastal Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. National Weather Service in Miami meteorologist Barry Baxter’s advisory alerts that the gusty winds could result in power outages, broken tree limbs and unsecured items could fly about.
There was also a fire weather warning issued Friday from the National Weather Service in Miami citing the likelihood of minimum relative humidity values below 35% for a few hours over portions of interior and Southwest Florida in the afternoon. The low humidity combined with dry conditions and increasing afternoon winds could result in “conditional fire weather concerns.”
How hot will Florida get?
“Right now we’re forecasting by early next week — Monday, Tuesday — we can see some areas on the western side of South Florida getting very close to 90. Right now we’re forecasting like 89, 90,” said George Rizzuto, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami.
Tampa, the Bradenton area, Orlando and the western inside region of South Florida could also expect highs in the upper 80s and low 90s into the week by Thursday. If it doesn’t hit a record, it’ll get pretty close for this time of year, Rizzuto said.
The Florida Keys, including Marathon and Key West, should reach the mid-80s.
The coastal regions will be a little bit cooler in the mid- to upper 80s, Rizzuto said. “It seems like we’re skipping spring a little bit.”
Reason for the heat
Rain, to cool things down, is not forecast for the weekend or next week, aside from a 20% chance on Tuesday in South Florida, the Keys and Orlando.
So why is it so unseasonably warm?
Rizzuto explains that the state has been dominated for the last week or so by high pressure sitting over the region so the air has a hard time rising.
“When we heat up the surface the heat of the surface doesn’t have a chance to rise and kind of dissipate away from the surface. So we can heat up a lot. So that’s mainly what’s causing this upcoming week of high pressure parking and just heating up again. Basically a little heat bubble,” Rizzuto said.
Think of a pan on the oven. If you take the lid off and stir, the heat dissipates a bit. But when that lid is on, the food can overcook. What we need for relief is a “little bit more mixing,” Rizzuto chuckled.
Rip currents
If you are heading to the ocean for some heat relief — and since the coastal areas will be a couple of degrees cooler, anyway — know this: There is a dangerous rip currents warning from Friday to Monday, March 7, for coastal Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and east coast beaches.
“Rip currents can sweep even the best swimmers away from shore into deeper water,” the weather service noted.
Tips:
▪ Swim near a lifeguard.
▪ Relax and float if caught in a rip current. Don’t swim against the current but, rather, if you’re able, swim in a direction following the shoreline. If you can’t escape the current, face the shore and call or wave for help.
This story was originally published March 4, 2022 at 12:15 PM.
