ORLANDO, Fla. — Even though we had a few clouds around Thursday afternoon, temperatures still made it into the 80s inland and upper 70s along the coast.

The ridge of high pressure holding firm over the southeastern U.S. is keeping at bay a very powerful storm in the Central Plains. Eventually, this system will drift northeast into Canada and swing a cold front in our direction for the weekend.

Until then, we’ve lined up a mostly sunny and very warm Friday. Highs Thursday reached the upper 70s to lower 80s, and we’ll warm up even more Friday with low to mid, and even a few upper 80s.

As the cold front approaches, it’ll slow some and allow just enough time for highs Saturday to push into the mid to upper 70s. We start the day mostly cloudy with the chance for a few showers as the front moves south.

The front stalls to our south Sunday, allowing moisture to stick around. This means there is a decent chance for showers on St. Patrick’s Day activities. Highs Sunday cool back into the upper 60s to lower 70s.

A developing low in the Gulf rides along the front Tuesday and Wednesday, with more widespread rain possible depending on how this system develops.

Beach & Surf Forecast

Now that our beaches are filling up with spring breakers, time to remind everyone to grab sunscreen and reapply. The UV index is forecast to be very the next couple days, with a sunburn possible in under 15 minutes.

For those hoping to catch a few waves while in town, our surf forecast will be poor to fair Friday with an east-southeast trade swell. Just keep in mind a moderate rip current threat.

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