Miami is hot — so when will it cool down? What forecast says through Christmas
Near record highs, a comfy cool-down, and the buzz word “enjoyable.” These are the seasonal gifts to South Florida that should bring Miami-Dade, Broward and the Keys into Christmas.
Tell us about the heat
Friday in the Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas could reach record-high temperatures. The Keys will be toasty, too, but would need a few more heat lamps to hit its record high.
These are the high temperature marks to look for, according to meteorologist Lissette Gonzalez of Miami Herald news partner CBS News Miami.
- Miami record high was set in 2016 when highs hit 87 on Dec. 19. This Friday’s forecast: 86 degrees.
- Fort Lauderdale high was set in 1961 when highs hit 86 on Dec. 19. This Friday’s forecast: 84.
- Key West high was set in 2016 when highs hit 85 on Dec. 19. This Friday’s forecast: 81.
Thursday’s “sneak peek a week away from Christmas” finds the coldest air is expected to stay well to the north, Gonzalez told her viewers. That suggests South Florida will be “basking in the warmth” and waking up to comfortable mornings and sunny, dry conditions for the week ahead.
Look for weekend highs of 81 Saturday and 82 Sunday.
Monday through Wednesday, Christmas Eve, the high will be a consistent 79, according to Gonzalez.
The norm high for the week into Christmas week is 78.
The National Weather Service in Miami’s forecast generally runs a degree or so different, so those forecasters are looking at 83 for Friday and weekend highs of 80 and a run of 78 into the holiday.
Tell us about the cold front
Call it a “slight cool-down” for the weekend, Gonzalez predicts.
The average morning low on the coolest day, Saturday, will be 65.
Toasty Friday’s low is forecast at 72.
Sunday will be 69.
On Monday and Tuesday the low should be 71.
Christmas Eve, Wednesday, brings a morning low of 70. For those who wake to the opening of presents on Christmas Day, you’ll be doing so at 69 degrees.
The norm low for this week is 64, according to CBS News Miami.
Pinpointing Saturday’s morning lows:
- Miami-Dade: The Redland and Country Walk areas will be the coolest spots at 62, with Homestead, Doral, Hialeah, Miami Lakes and Miami at 65. Miami Beach and Key Biscayne will have the highest cool temperatures of 68. Aventura expects 67. Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay will drop to 66.
- Broward: Weston will be the coolest at 62, followed by Coral Springs, Southwest Ranches and Davie at 63. Bunch of 64s in Sunrise, Tamarac, Margate, Lauderhill, Miramar and Cooper City. Oakland Park expects 65, with Fort Lauderdale and Dania Beach dropping to 66. Hollywood, Hallandale Beach and Deerfield Beach are the warmest spots at 67.
By comparison, New York is expecting snow showers from the weekend to Nochebuena, with lows in the 20s on Friday and Saturday, 15 degrees on Sunday and a high of only 33 on a cloudy Christmas Eve, according to the National Weather Service.
Heading to Central Florida’s Orlando for its attractions during Christmas week from Friday forward? Highs and lows run from the high-70s to high-50s. Rain is not expected.
Tell us about the rain chances
There are no rain chances from Friday through Christmas, CBS News Miami and the National Weather Service predict. Just maybe, maybe “a few showers” on Monday, Gonzalez said.
What should we worry about?
There is a high rip current alert from the weather service running through Thursday evening in coastal Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Some of these rip currents could be dangerous. As of Thursday, the service is not warning of rip currents for the weekend or into Christmas week.
