Temperatures are expected to rise throughout the week before another cold front hits the Treasure Coast — but this one won’t be like the last two.
After a cold front prompted a freeze warning overnight Jan. 15 and tied the Jan. 16 record in Fort Pierce at 32 degrees, according to the National Weather Service in Melbourne, another powerful cold front on the afternoon of Jan. 18 prompted a high wind warning with peak gusts of 40-60 mph.
Even the annual Fellsmere Frog Leg Festival closed early at 3 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. on the last day of the event because of the extreme winds, according to its Facebook page.
In some parts of East Central Florida, temperatures dropped 20-30 degrees in an hour, according to the National Weather Service. Vero Beach was included in the Top 10 temperature drops across the region, which dropped 22 degrees from 2-3 p.m.
The morning of Jan. 19 started cold and frigid with the lowest wind chills at 30 degrees in Vero Beach, 31 degrees in Fort Pierce and 39 degrees in Stuart, according to the National Weather Service.
The afternoon remained mostly sunny with moderate winds and temperatures in the upper 50s and low 60s, according to the National Weather Service. High temperatures were supposed to reach 62 degrees in Vero Beach, 63 degrees in Port St. Lucie and 64 degrees in Stuart, which are below the seasonal normal.
The night was expected to be chilly with low temperatures down to the low to mid-40s — and in the low 50s along the Martin County coast — before a gradual warmup during the week, said meteorologist Derrick Weitlich.
The week starts just slightly below normal — with high temperatures in the lows 70s in Vero Beach and Fort Pierce being normal — before the week ends just slightly above normal, Weitlich said. The nighttime also shows a gradual warming trend, which normally would be in the low 50s.
Skies should be partly cloudy near the start of the week before they increase mid-week to mostly cloudy and late week to cloudy, he said.
Here’s his full forecast for the week:
Another cold front is expected to arrive during the weekend, most likely on Jan. 25 on the Treasure Coast, Weitlich said. High temperatures would be in the low 80s on Jan. 24 and drop down to the upper 70s on Jan. 25 before the cold front moves through the area.
The cooler air won’t hit until overnight and into the next day, he said, but this front won’t bring the same cold temperatures as the previous ones — it will get them back to normal for this time of the year.
Laurie K. Blandford is a breaking news reporter with TCPalm. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Temps rise to 80s this week before another cold front this weekend
Reporting by Laurie K. Blandford, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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