ORLANDO, Fla. — A nor’easter roaring along the Eastern Seaboard may be bringing a threat of wintry weather to much of the Northeast this weekend, but even Florida won’t be able to escape its stormy effects.
A trailing cold front from the massive storm will sweep across the Sunshine State Saturday morning, creating a large area of wind shear and triggering a risk of severe weather, especially across the heart of the state.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center has over 13 million Floridians inside a Level 1 out of 5 risk of severe weather Saturday, including Tampa, Orlando and Fort Myers.
Damaging wind gusts over 60 mph are the greatest threat in stronger thunderstorms, with an isolated tornado possible. Dangerous and frequent lightning will give Florida a head start on keeping the crown in 2024 for most lightning-prone state in the U.S.
OVER 2.4 MILLION LIGHTNING BOLTS SPOTTED ACROSS THE US IN 2023 WITH WIND FARMS, MIAMI TOP TARGETS
Several wind gusts topped 40 mph in Florida’s Big Bend area as the front swept through early Saturday morning, with St. Mark’s Lighthouse recording a gust of 47 mph. Spotters reported a few scattered power outages in the area from toppled trees or branches into power lines.
The peak of the wind shear and stormiest conditions will arrive around midday Saturday, then weather will calm from west to east as the cold front passes through.