ORLANDO, Fla. – Christmas 2020 will rank among the coldest Christmas’ on record for Central Florida.
The high temperature officially topped out at 53 degrees at the Orlando International Airport.
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That is good enough for the coldest Christmas since 1995 in Orlando. For perspective, “Batman Forever” and “Apollo 13″ topped the box office the last time it was this cold on Christmas Day in Central Florida.
Christmas 2020 will take a spot in the top ten coldest of all time, tying with 1995 for the sixth coldest Christmas on record. Records go all the way back to 1892.
While the wind will make it feel even colder on Christmas Day, it won’t be anywhere close to the absurdly cold Christmas of 1983. High temperatures didn’t make it out of the 30s! The low temperature bottomed out at 20 degrees at the Orlando International Airport the next morning.
The Christmas chill arrived in dramatic fashion on Christmas Eve night with a strong Arctic cold front blasting through Central Florida. Highs Christmas Eve topped out in the low 80s just after 3 p.m. About 17 hours later, temperatures bottomed out at 38 degrees in Orlando.
That 43 degree drop in temperature is tied for the largest drop in temperature in a 24 hour period at the Orlando International Airport.
The biggest drop in temperature occurred after the cold front moved through after 7 p.m. Christmas Eve. Temperatures continued to crash until the sun came up Christmas morning.
Florida sees numerous cold fronts plow through every winter, but they are rarely as strong as the one that moved through Christmas Eve.