COUNTY HAD 5TH-WARMEST YEAR BUT COLD IS ON THE WAY
You didn’t imagine it. The past year was a toasty one for Palm Beach County. In fact, 2017 was the fifth warmest year on record as recorded at Palm Beach International Airport, the National Weather Service’s Miami office said Monday.
The new year started the same way. Monday’s high at Palm Beach International Airport was 78.
But don’t expect that to last.
“A much colder air mass will be in place for the end of the week,with gusty northwest winds across South Florida bringing us a modified taste of the Arctic air affecting much of the rest of the U.S.,” the Weather Service said Monday in a forecast discussion.
Lows Thursday night could reach the freezing point west of Lake Okeechobee, and WEATHER NEWSLETTER Receive the WeatherPlus newsletter every Thursday with the latest updates on weather-related news from Kimberly Miller, The Post’s award-winning reporter. For details, go online to membercenter. Palm BeachPost.com/ newsletters.
even into the low to mid40s in coastal Palm Beach County, the forecast discussion said.
“Highs Thursday and Friday are unlikely to make it out of the 60s, with the coldest locations struggling to get out of the 50s. Given the continuing model agreement in these temperatures, it is looking like that some type of cold weather advisories may be needed for portions of South Florida mid to late week,” the discussion said.
A cold front hanging over Central Florida was expected to move south and east Monday night and into today, bringing a chance of rain that will increase through Wednesday. Rains could be heavy tonight, although the strongest rain is expected to stay off shore.
For the West Palm Beach area, today’s forecast is for an overnight low around 57 and a high around 69, with some showers likely and some winds expected to gust to 25 mph. Wednesday’s high is forecast to hit 68, with less of a chance of showers. But Thursday’s high is expected to reach only the high 50s and low 60s and return to the mid 60s to low 70s into the weekend.
All of this follows a 2017 average temperature of 76.9 degrees, compared with 78 in 2015, weather service observation team leader Christopher Fisher said.