It’s not sweater weather, but the cold front headed this way will bring notable rains to a region that’s gripped in drought.
Meteorologists are calling for upwards of an inch of rain in the Fort Myers and Naples area this weekend as a cold front moves across the Sunshine State.
“Cold front” is a meteorological term that described low pressure systems that work their way from the mainland to Florida during the winter and spring months.
So, it’s not actually going to get cold this weekend. It will, however, bring a burst of cooler air.
Collier remains in extreme drought
“Basically, we’re looking at late Saturday night and for sure on Sunday,” said Anthony Reynes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Miami, the office that covers the Naples-Marco Island area. “It’s going to be rainy all day Sunday.”
Reynes said there is an 85% chance of rain across Collier County for May 3.
“It’s not going to be like the typical afternoon weather where some areas get rain, and some don’t,” he said. “This is going to be more area-wide ride.”
All of Collier is in an extreme drought, according to the latest forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.
“We’re in drought conditions and we still have fire in the Everglades, so that might bring a bit of a pause to the drought conditions,” Reynes said. “But we will need repeated rains before we see the drought improve.”
Lows Sunday night and Monday night will hover around 66 degrees, according to NWS forecasts. That’s about 6 or 8 degrees cooler than normal.
Historically, the rainy season starts on May 15, but the weather pattern that causes afternoon seabreeze thunderstorms may not be in place until mid-June.
In the longer-term, NOAA is calling for above-average rainfall for all of Florida for the months of May, June and July.
Tropical storms, hurricanes less likely to form during El Nino
The El Nino-La Nina cycle usually comes into play during the hurricane season, which starts June 1.
Several hurricane forecasting outlets are calling for slightly below-normal activity this summer and fall as El Nino brings wind shear that collides with any forming storms.
“We’re approaching the El Nino criteria,” said Tony Hurt, with the NWS office in Ruskin. “It might take hold officially in July or August and it may end up starting May or June and typically the impacts are more likely in the fall to early spring, in the cool season.”
Chad Gillis is an environment reporter and can be reached by email at cgillis@news-press.com.
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: One last spring fling? Cold front headed to Naples this weekend.
Reporting by Chad Gillis, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
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