What a drop in temperatures!
A strong cold front will push the thermometer down by more than 30 degrees in less than 24 hours. The clearing of the rain heralds the arrival of an arctic airmass.
The coldest air of the season is hitting tonight. Temperatures will reach at or below freezing over Georgia and northeast Florida except in Flagler County and areas east of I-95 in St. Johns County. Jacksonville Beach will likely reach freezing briefly by sunrise.
Temperatures inland will start freezing by 3 a.m. and won’t warm beyond 32 degrees until about 9 a.m. Wednesday. This has resulted in a Hard Freeze Warning for Baker, Nassau, Columbia counties, and Georgia.
The breeze will also make the wind chills feel like teens over Georgia and inland north Florida with even lower to mid-20s for the typically warmer areas closer to the coast.
Tonight marks the season’s fifth freeze in Jacksonville since it froze on November 11, 2023. That early freeze of 32 degrees was followed by two more in December and one on January 1. All four were considered a light freeze at 32 degrees.
Tonight will be colder, and a hard freeze warning has been issued which means temperatures could reach 28 or below for at least three hours.
Our average low this time of year is 43° and although tonight will be well below average, this is the time of year we get impacted by arctic outbreaks. Just three years ago Jacksonville reached 28 degrees on this date in 2021.