JACSKONVILLE, Fla. – Zeta was one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the United States so late in the year. Not since the Halloween Hurricane of 1899 has a hurricane hit so hard, back then it was the South Carolina Coast with winds of 110 mph.
Zeta will be in the Carolinas before you know it. By Thursday morning a trail of power outages and felled trees will stretched across the South from New Orleans to Atlanta to the Mountains of North Carolina.
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For Jacksonville, we will see the same deep tropical air that has been pumping up our temperatures and humidity to continue for one more day, today, Thursday evening. That means possible record breaking afternoon temperatures, reaching around 90° and feel-like temperatures around 95°. Jacksonville’s Thursday’s record high is 87° back in 1984. By the evening hours we will see a few fast moving showers and maybe a few thundershowers. Not everyone will see these passing downpours.
Then, on the backside of Zeta, which, by Friday morning, will be way off the Coast of the Del-Mar-Va, cool-dry air will be pushed into Jacksonville. Friday morning will be super sunny, drier and cooler. Sunrise temperatures will be in the 50s (just barely back to normal, normal sunrise temperature is about 56°).
Daytime highs will only be in the 70s, under mostly sunny skies.
Saturday and Sunday we will see winds swing back around the northeast, bringing some clouds and maybe a brief shower along the coast. Highs both days will be in the 70s to around 80°.
Other details, it’s a Blue Moon on Halloween night, “spoooky”, so 2020.
We fall-back with our clocks Saturday night.