Frost & even some ice on tree branches reported this morning in the Golden Gate Estates area. Widespread frost reported in southwest Florida this morning and a hard freeze (4 hours or more of temps at or below 28 degrees) for parts of eastern DeSoto/Charlotte/Lee/Collier Counties as well as Highlands, Hendry and Glades. We'll see later on this morning what kind of damage there might have been the citrus crop, particularly in Highlands & Glades.
The atmosphere will be warming up in advance of our next arctic cold front over the next couple of days. Tonight, though, we get another extra cold night with high pressure located over north and central Florida. The sky will be clear, the wind light, and the air dry.. exactly the mix needed for another night of freezing temps. In fact, with the high centered over Florida, tonight might even be colder for some.. with the freezing line possibly getting close to the beach communities tonight!
Briefly we'll rebound into the mid 60's (even upper 60's in a couple of spots possible tomorrow) before the next front moves through on Friday. To forecast highs, we often look at the temperature about 5000 feet above the ground; over the weekend, that temperature will likely be near freezing on Saturday and several degrees below freezing on Sunday (almost unheard of). It's possible with air that cold aloft, many spots may not get out of the 40's and low 50's for highs even with ample sunshine on Sunday. Cold stuff!
Brian
