A gentle stretch of weather and seasonally warm temperatures is forecast ahead of Thanksgiving Day with the potential for a sigh of cooler air to follow the Nov. 27 holiday into the following weekend.
Matt Sitkowski, science editor and chief at the Weather Channel, said weather forecast models have been a little at odds about Mother Nature’s intent later next week and into early December but are beginning to agree that a bubble of Canadian air could make it into Florida with a smattering of rain and promise of slightly lower temperatures.
Any cool down in South Florida would likely bring temperatures to near normal, which is 78 degrees for a daytime high this time of year and an overnight low of 64 as measured at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach.
“It’s been warm and dry for a lot of locations in Florida and that looks to continue through Thanksgiving week, but it looks like a front will be strong enough to make it all the way down Wednesday or Thursday,” he said. “It’s not a massive arctic blast, but some locations will drop into more comfortable temperatures.”
AccuWeather’s long-range forecast team is predicting high temperatures in the low 80s on Thanksgiving Day in South Florida with a 25% chance of rainfall and cloud cover of 45%.
In the Treasure Coast, Nov. 27 is forecast to reach 81 degrees in Stuart while areas in the Panhandle are likely to see daytime high temperatures in the mid-70s with better chances of rain. Tallahassee has a 74% chance of rain on Thanksgiving Day.
There’s a chance the cool front will be stronger than expected
Sitkowski said there is a possibility that the cool front will be stronger than expected but the Climate Prediction Center is supporting warmer than normal temperatures and rainfall leaning toward the wetter side through Nov. 28.
Paul Pastelok, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather, said cooler temperatures in South Florida will come more from cloud cover and northeasterly breezes than a true gush of Canadian air. He believes the cool front will stall over Central Florida.
“It’s going to be warm and humid but it might cool off a little Friday,” Pastelok said about South Florida. “If anyone is choosing to get away from the cold this time of year and go south, they will really enjoy it.”
Has it been a hotter or cooler November for West Palm Beach?
Pastelok cautioned that while travel to Thanksgiving destinations shouldn’t be marred by inclement weather, people heading to the northeast after the holiday may want to check on how a potential bout of snow is affecting the region.
This month through Nov. 19 has been cooler than normal for all of Florida, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center. That’s likely because of the lively cold front that dropped through the state near Nov. 10-11. In West Palm Beach, the overnight low Nov. 11 was 45 degrees, which is 22 degrees below normal.
For the month, West Palm Beach is 2 degrees below the average temperature. Fort Pierce, Melbourne and Venice are 5 degrees below normal. Jacksonville is 8 degrees below normal with this month ranking the second coldest in 72 years of records for Jacksonville Beach.
Kimberly Miller is a journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate, weather, and the environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida’s Thanksgiving forecast: Mild weather before a hint of cooler air
Reporting by Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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