JACKSONVILLE,FL – After a dry sunny week get set for several cloudy and wet days beginning Sunday afternoon. The feature ending the great weather is a slow moving cut-off low.
Unlike regular weather systems steered by jet streams, cut-off lows detach from the jet leaving a meandering low that brings prolonged rain and clouds that can last for days.
These features are not common around Florida since the jet stream is typically across higher latitudes. But a dip in the flow will send one our way this weekend.
The impacts of cut-off lows in the winter bring slightly cooler air. Cut-off lows in summer tap into warm, moist air, triggering heavy rainfall, and potentially leading to flooding. Tropical systems can also develop if the storms stay over warm ocean temperatures.
In either season, we can expect to have increased cloud cover and precipitation: This is the most likely impact, ranging from drizzle to heavy downpours depending on the factors mentioned above.
Next week, a cut-off low is predicted to sit over Florida for the early part of the week resulting in gray, breezy, and damp conditions.
Once it moves farther into the Atlantic it will spin up a powerful local Nor’easter Tuesday and Wednesday with winds gusting to 40 mph and significant coastal erosion along the east coast for the first week in February.