ORLANDO, Fla. – Cooler air is spilling into Florida to end the work week and start the weekend, but even colder air is expected to arrive during the week leading up to Thanksgiving.
Indications are a large ridge of high pressure will build in the western U.S., leading to much above-normal temperatures west of the Rockies leading up to Thanksgiving.
That ridge in the jet stream out west will allow for colder air, currently bottled up near the Arctic Circle, to plunge into the eastern U.S. as early as the weekend before Thanksgiving.
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The red line on the map above is the projected path of the air from western Alaska into Central Florida from Nov. 15 through Nov. 23.
The cold air arrives as early as the Friday before Thanksgiving or as late as a couple of days before. Below are how cold the morning temperatures could be when the core of the cold air settles in.
While there is some wiggle room in the exact timing of the arrival of the cold air, the weather pattern strongly suggests temperatures anywhere from 15 to 20 degrees below average in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. It’s possible the below-average temperatures hang on for Turkey Day as well.
This pattern is consistent with what we expect will continue through the winter of 2024/2025 for Central Florida. Overall, the months of December, January and February are expected to be warm and dry, but there will likely be days/night that were colder than last year due to the jet stream orientation.
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