Cold front to drop South Florida’s temperatures

After what seems like a forever stretch of blazing hot daytime temperatures, South Florida gets a breather with the arrival of a cold front that is breaking the cycle of soaring heat and humidity for a couple of days.

The front rolled into the region Thursday bringing with it some isolated showers and storms.

Heading into the weekend, a drier and cooler air mass will drop temperatures by up to 10 degrees in some areas, according to the National Weather Service. Thursday’s overnight temperatures were forecast to drop as low as the upper 40s west of Lake Okeechobee and into the lower 60s across the metro areas of the east coast.

On Friday, the predicted high for the Fort Lauderdale area is 77 degrees with partly sunny skies and wind from the north at 9 to 11 mph which could make it feel even

a couple of degrees cooler.

You might want to prepare some hot cocoa on Friday night when the low temperatures across the metropolitan area will be about 66.

And just when you might be getting used to the light jacket or sweater, low temperatures “will rebound to near normal levels by the end of the weekend,” according to the weather service.

On Saturday it will be mostly sunny with a high near 80 and winds from the northeast at 9 to 13 mph. It will also be mostly clear Sunday when the high ticks up a couple of degrees to 82.

Because of the wind speed and direction, there is an increased risk of rip currents at all South Florida beaches through the weekend, according to meteorologists. A slight rain chance kicks in with the start of the new week. Daytime highs are forecast to be in the low 80s through Wednesday.