Orlando Weather Forecast: Wild Winds This Weekend

Beautiful day today, John, but then some big changes this weekend with the cold front and it's really going to change our weather pattern for the better part of next week. We'll be about 10 degrees colder for our highs every day. That means highs in the upper 70s around 80 instead of highs near 90, which is where we'll be today. 72 at the bus stop this morning, 89 at three as your student heads home. There will be a 20% chance for a late day downpour, but the higher rain chances hold off until tomorrow. Temperatures around the region. We look to our weather spotters. Ross hitting in Windermere checks in with 70. Todd in Orlando Vista with 74 degrees, and Frank in Winter Haven with 72 degrees. Farther north, we've got temperatures in the 60s in Dixie County for Deanna Smith in Old Town with 63 degrees, Debbie Carroll in Ocala with 68, and Denise in Port Orange checking in with 75 degrees. Well, our dew points this morning are in the low 70s, so it is a touch muggy, and that's typical ahead of a cold front. You get a surge from the south, moistens up the atmosphere, and then when this cold front arrives, which right now it's across Oklahoma, it brings with it the thunderstorms. By the way, it's snowing this morning high in the Rockies above 10,000 feet and also up into Wyoming. Pretty typical for this time of the year, but always kind of wild to see that when juxtaposed with how warm and humid it is here comparatively. Well, no surprise there. We're in Florida after all. And tomorrow we're going to get some thunderstorms as this front makes its way into the region. Storms which could linger into the night, which means that Friday night football may be in jeopardy. Now, there are some Thursday night games. Tonight's games should be A-OK. Now, as far as the cold front goes this weekend, this is really going to be a wind maker for us. The front will stall in South Florida for Saturday and for Sunday, making for some pretty wet times all weekend with periodic downpours and thunderstorms in South Florida. For us, it'll be considerably lighter, but with the wind, it's going to be feeling really wild outside, gusting inland over 35 miles per hour, at the coast over 45 miles per hour. Times of clouds and sun, intermittent showers, fast-moving, squally, and big waves at the beaches, which could be higher than 10 or 12 feet in the surf zones, making for very dangerous surf conditions and beach conditions. Going anywhere near the water is not advised. For this afternoon, we may see a few showers popping up around 5 o'clock around the time of the evening commute, and then anything that does develop would push west toward Tampa Bay. Then for tomorrow, as early as late morning, a couple of isolated showers pop up, and then thunderstorms by four. These could be on the strong side. I wouldn't be surprised if one or two were severe with damaging wind gusts. After all, it is associated with a pretty punchy cold front. And that's going to change conditions here at Daytona, which right now are pretty serene. So for Biketoberfest, the big motorcycle festival kicking off today and lasting through Sunday, well, it's going to be mixed. We'll say that conditions-wise. Today, pretty decent, about 85 degrees, just a 20% chance of rain, then a 60% chance for Friday and for Saturday. And Saturday and Sunday, when it's not raining, It's just going to be gusty and unsettled and windy, but at least it's not going to be hot. We'll see highs in the upper 70s there at the beach, but just some big changes there, wet roads, 40-plus mile-per-hour gusts. It's going to be kind of wild, but look at the temperatures from Saturday right through Wednesday of next week. Highs in the upper 70s to around 80 degrees, and that will be a noticeable shift in our weather pattern, one we haven't seen around here in many months.