The Halloween spirit has officially crept into Jacksonville — bringing along a cool, crisp chill this morning with temperatures dipping to around 44 degrees. Whether you’re heading out for trick-or-treating, handing out candy, or showing off your costume at work or a spooky soirée, the weather won’t be playing any tricks on us this year. According to the National Weather Service, we’re in for a “Bootiful” Friday evening, with dry and comfortably cool temperatures — around the 60s at 5 p.m., slipping into the 50s by 9 p.m. Perfect for a night of haunting fun under clear autumn skies!
Jacksonville weather rorecast Halloween: Cool and dry
What’s the latest on Hurricane Melissa? Where is it headed now?
After savaging Jamaica as one of the most powerful hurricanes on record, swamping Haiti, Cuba and the Bahamas and skirting Bermuda, Hurricane Melissa is rapidly speeding out into the Atlantic and is expected to drop down into an extratropical cyclone later today, according to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center.
Jamaica rampaged through the Caribbean as Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph and severe flooding, leaving more than 50 deaths attributed to the storm in Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic with more expected as search and rescue operations continue. Most of Jamaica remains without power and some communities are still unreachable,
The storm currently has maximum sustained winds of 90 mph with higher gusts and has picked up speed, heading northwest away from Bermuda at 41 mph.
The east coast of Florida south to West Palm Beach is under a small craft advisory. Dangerous rip currents and rough waves are expected along much of the coast through Friday, the National Weather Service said.
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Significant impacts to Florida and the U.S. East Coast are not expected at this time.
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Spaghetti models for Hurricane Melissa. See trajectory, path
Special note about spaghetti models: Spaghetti model illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The Hurricane Center uses only the top four or five highest performing models to help make its forecasts.
Where is Hurricane Melissa now? Where is it headed?
Special note on the NHC cone: The forecast track shows the most likely path of the center of the storm. It does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its impacts, and the center of the storm is likely to travel outside the cone up to 33% of the time.
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Latest weather watches and warnings issued in Florida
No watches or warnings associated with Hurricane Melissa are in effect for Florida or the U.S. as of Oct. 28. A small craft advisory is in effect and dangerous rip currents are expected through Friday.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: No tricks, just weather forecast for Jacksonville on Halloween and the latest on Melissa
Reporting by Doris Alvarez Cea and C. A. Bridges, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
