Cooler air reaches Central Florida. A very wet weekend could be on deck

ORLANDO, Fla. – A much drier air mass will continue to settle in across the state, delivering a nice forecast for the next few days.

Mostly sunny skies will be overhead in the Orlando area as winds increase to about 10 mph. Highs by the afternoon are expected to climb into the upper 60s to low 70s.

As our winds begin to veer onshore by the end of the week, a gradual warming trend will begin as highs Thursday and Friday climb into the mid-70s, with cloud cover starting to build in.

A more active shift in our weather pattern arrives this weekend as a cold front approaches North Florida by Saturday morning. As the front tracks south over the area, widespread rain will start up by the afternoon and into the evening, with lingering storms expected to last into Sunday.

Excessive rainfall will be possible with 1-2 inches of rain from Saturday afternoon through Monday morning across east-central Florida, though it would not be all that surprising to see some locations approach 3 inches by the time the system pulls away early Monday morning.

Temperatures this weekend will start on the warm side, with Saturday in the low 70s followed by a cooler trend into the low 60s by Sunday.

For President’s Day, conditions will continue to be dry, with a few lingering showers possible along the coast.