Andy, I was thinking the same after viewing the wind and RH observations this afternoon. Not good. 📡🔥

By Sunday, we’ll just notice a “cool down” to near-normal highs around 80° and a brief period of breezy northeast to east winds late Saturday into early Sunday morning. No need to reach for the jacket! Just enjoy the slightly cooler air and that gusty easterly breeze.

A weak cold front is pushing south across the southern U.S. and will slip into Florida later Saturday, weakening as it goes. With limited moisture, only isolated showers are expected, but cloud cover will show up nicely on satellite, and models keep most of the state on the dry side.

a man wearing sunglasses and a blue shirt is sitting in a car with canal 4 film hd on the screen ALT: a man wearing sunglasses and a blue shirt is sitting in a car with canal 4 film hd on the screen

Awesome.

At the mid-levels (around 18,000 feet), temps are cold with readings near -13°C which creates enough instability to spark thunderstorms, especially where moisture and lift overlap.

This setup is playing out over parts of Hillsborough County (well east of Tampa) and Polk County this evening.

Right now, precipitable water (PWAT) values are around 1.5 inches, signaling plenty of moisture in the atmosphere, but that moisture is being funneled southwestward behind the front instead of northward like in more typical patterns.

So how does this happen? 🤔
A ridge of high pressure centered off the Virginia coast is extending southwest along the Mid-Atlantic and into northeast Florida.

This setup directs a cooler and drier northeast flow down the peninsula, helping the front slide in “through the back door.”

A “Back Door” Cold Front is Moving Through Florida Tonight.

A less typical setup is unfolding across Florida this evening, that is, a back door cold front is pushing southwest across the state from the north and northeast, rather than the usual direction from the north and northwest.

The contract for a critical hurricane evacuation planning tool is about to lapse | CNN The HURREVAC program enables local officials to simulate historical hurricanes as well as conjure synthetic future storms with great detail. They’re losing access to it because of delays in federal ap...

Thanks to Andrew Freedman, Senior Reporter with CNN, for working with me on this important topic yesterday on the training and decision support planning tools to help emergency managers and the National Weather Service prepare communities for the #hurricane season.

www.cnn.com/2026/03/24/w...

Learn more about the National Hurricane Program at: www.fema.gov/emergency-ma...

From NOAA:

Maintaining tools that strengthen preparedness and situational awareness is a key part of effective emergency management.

As the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) noted, HURREVAC is a critical decision tool that provides storm surge visualizations, exercise modules, and transportation modeling, all of which support preparedness and response just as hurricane season approaches.

In my current work as a consulting meteorologist, I still use similar data to help translate forecast information into operational guidance.

My background with National Weather Service and NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration included frequent use of the program to brief emergency managers and government officials on hurricane impacts and decision-making considerations.

HURREVAC has long been a practical and trusted part of hurricane operations, especially in supporting training, evacuation planning, and readiness along the Gulf Coast.

If we flip the satellite switch to the “infrared” wavelength, we can monitor weather and cloud features 24/7!

Meanwhile GOES-West is still showing nighttime darkness over the Pacific with a nice glimpse of sunlit areas farther east.

In visible imagery, the satellite is detecting reflected sunlight, which is why GOES-East shows a daylight view.

GOES-East and GOES-West are giving us two great views of the Western Hemisphere this morning. GOES-East shows South America, the northwest coast of Africa, much of the eastern U.S., and clear skies over Tampa Bay.

These satellites provide views of Earth, helping meteorologists track weather.

One relieving element about the ongoing, record-breaking afternoon heat over portions of the west/southwest U.S. is the overnight recovery, as dry, low dew point air provides relief in low temperatures. Oftentimes, record heatwaves keep overnight lows in warm/oppressive ranges.

Even as model guidance from the Ai-GFS shows the ridge weakening slightly next week, the pattern remains warm enough to keep many areas above normal.

Even as model guidance from the NAM shows the ridge weakening slightly next week, the pattern remains warm enough to keep many areas above normal.

Notable extremes include Phoenix’s earliest 100-degree day, Salt Lake City’s earliest 80-degree day, Denver’s March record, and San Francisco’s hottest March temperature ever.

Much of Southern CA and the Desert Southwest have been under heat alerts as temperatures continue to surge into the upper 90s and triple digits. Many locations are running 15 to 30 degrees above normal, with numerous daily and monthly records being broken, as measured by NOAA and weather observers.

A powerful and unusually deep heat ridge is driving record and extreme heat across the West and Southwest. Upper-air analysis shows a rare 5940-meter ridge at 500 mb, with 200 mb analysis revealing the depth of the high-pressure column and the sinking, compressional warming beneath it.

Together, the two areas create a striking example of how surface type and land cover influence satellite appearance in the visible spectrum.

Science, technology and geography in action!

Immediately east of the dunes, Lincoln National Forest appears noticeably darker in the visible channel. The sharp contrast is due to denser vegetation, different terrain, and a much lower surface albedo/reflection compared to the gypsum sands.

Overlaid with county boundaries, at 0.5 km resolution, the contrast and location are even easier to see.

White Sands National Park truly pops in visible satellite imagery, especially on the 0.64 micron channel from the geostationary weather satellite around Noon ET / 10 AM CT today, where the bright gypsum dunes strongly reflect sunlight and stand out against the darker desert surroundings.

Chilly 8 PM over the northeast and a sweltering 5 PM over the southwest! 🥶 🥵