JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – I overheard in the newsroom Thursday morning, “There are two seasons in Florida: One is summer, the other is February.” Francine, you got that right!
According to the National Weather Service in Jacksonville, prior to the onset of the cold weather on Thursday, the first 19 days of February at the current Jacksonville International Airport location (since 1971) is ranked as the 2nd warmest start for the month of February with an average temperature so far of 64.1F (+7.4F above normal). However, with the cold blast coming the last eight days of the month, this “record” will likely fall out of the Top 10 by the end of this weekend.
That’s February for you.
But as all good things do, the springtime warmth has come to an end. It is, after all, still winter until Thursday, March 20 when spring officially begins.
As we close out February, with one week left, the forecast is chilly with the coldest temperatures this month sinking into our region Friday morning.
For portions of Northeast Florida and coastal Southeast Georgia, a Cold Weather Advisory is in effect beginning at 1 a.m. Friday to 10 a.m. This means very cold wind chills as low as 20 degrees are expected.
A Freeze Warning goes into effect at 2 a.m. Friday morning through 9 a.m. meaning sub-freezing temperatures as low as 27 degrees expected.
For portions of Southeast Georgia, the Freeze Warning goes into effect at 11 p.m. Thursday through 10 a.m. Friday. While the Cold Weather Advisory is from 1 a.m. Friday through 10 a.m.
As the clouds move out, the cold air drops in as a high-pressure system over the Carolinas settles in. The wind chills will be felt by everyone in the region falling into the teens by early Friday morning across Southeast Georgia and into the 20s across Northeast Florida. Cold airmass remains in place for Friday night with another light freeze and widespread frost expected across inland Southeast Georgia by early Saturday morning.
Daytime highs will be well below normal Thursday and Friday, only reaching into the 40s and 50s.