High winds are expected in the afternoon Jan. 31, coinciding with a steep drop in temperatures that are likely to plunge the entire Treasure Coast into a hard freeze overnight and into Feb. 1, according to the National Weather Service office in Melbourne.
A wind advisory, with forecasts of 20 to 30 mile-per-hour sustained winds and gusts of 40 to 50 miles per hour, will be in effect from 3 p.m. Jan. 31 to 7 a.m. Feb. 1. Extreme cold warnings and freeze warnings will be in effect from 7 p.m. Jan. 31 to 1 p.m. Feb. 1, according to the weather service.
Treasure Coast residents are encouraged to let their faucets drip, check on elderly family, friends and neighbors, bring pets indoors and protect sensitive plants ahead of and during the expected hard freeze.
Temperatures are expected to drop by nearly 40 degrees during the day Jan. 31, which started the day with highs in the low-60s, but is expected to end with lows in the mid-20s, according to forecasts.
Those lows will likely break daily records overnight Jan. 31 and into the morning of Feb. 1. The record low temperature for Feb. 1 in Vero Beach was set in 1966 at 29 degrees and in Fort Pierce was set in 1909 at 32 degrees.
However, it probably won’t break all-time records for the Treasure Coast. The coldest temperature on record for Vero Beach was set on Jan. 22, 1985, at 21 degrees and for Fort Pierce was set on Dec. 24, 1989, at 19 degrees.
Though the weather service’s extreme cold and freeze warnings currently only extend to 7 a.m. Feb. 1, forecasts show below-freezing conditions may continue past that. The weather service forecasts a low of 27 in Stuart, 28 in Port St. Lucie, 27 in Fort Pierce and 26 in Vero Beach on the night of Feb. 1 and into the early hours of Feb. 2. The wind chill in Vero Beach that night may be as low as 19 degrees, according to the weather service.
Cold weather shelters are open across the Treasure Coast.
The cold weather shelter in Stuart at Gertrude Walden Day Care Center, 601 S.E. Lake St., plans to open at 5 p.m. Jan. 31 and close by 8 a.m. Feb. 2
The cold weather shelter in Fort Pierce at the Percy Peek Gym, 2902 Avenue D, plans to open at 5 p.m. Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. The shelter closes at 8 a.m. the following day each time.
The cold weather shelter in Vero Beach at The Salvation Army of Indian River County, 2655 Fifth St. SW, plans to open 7 p.m. Jan. 31, Feb. 1 and Feb. 2. The shelter closes at 7 a.m. the following day each time.
Wicker Perlis is TCPalm’s Watchdog Reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach him at wicker.perlis@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Treasure Coast to soon be under wind, cold weather and freeze warnings
Reporting by Wicker Perlis, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
