A very typical mid to late July week of weather ahead for the First Coast. Late night/early morning temps. will only dip to the low to mid 70s (closer to 80 at the beaches) with midday through early afternoon temps. soaring to near or a little above 90....& lots of humidity....& afternoon/early evening thunderstorms with localized very heavy rain & frequent lightning. Storms will increase in number Tue. & that trend will continue for the rest of the week.
And as active as the tropics are, no problem for the First Coast. The next pulse of the MJO (Madden-Julian Oscillation) could be the most problematic -- later in Aug. into Sept. -- more on that tomorrow (Tue.).
The annual Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament is this week with lots of festivities all week long leading up to the fishing competition Fri. & Sat. Weather generally looks o.k. as seas will not be bad averaging 2-3 feet, maybe 4 feet at times offshore & only light to moderate winds that'll average south & southwest with an occasional swing to the southeast close to shore later in the afternoon. There will be a daily threat of scattered afternoon thunderstorms that will be locally intense but will also favor coastal & inland areas. There could be a strong enough westerly component to the mid & upper level winds to guide a few more storms farther offshore by Wed., Thu. & Fri.
As hot as it might be, it's never too hot to go to the zoo. In fact, we took the kids this morning to our beautiful Jax Zoo & Gardens. Remember there are plenty of ways to stay cool -- misters, air conditioned indoor exhibits, Snow Biz & restaurants. And now the zoo is offering a discount -- half off admission -- when the temp. is forecast to be 95 degrees or higher. Our First Alert Forecast is actually "only" 93 for Tue., but that's apparently close enough for the zoo because the Tue. coupon has been posted. Click here.
