Winter Storm Blair, which hit parts of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states with heavy snow and ice , will usher in a prolonged cold spell in the Tallahassee area as well, minus the frozen precipitation.
Low temperatures, usually in the low 40s this time of year, will plunge to around freezing or lower, with wind-chill factors in the low to mid-20s for the next several mornings. Highs, normally in the low 60s, will reach only the upper 40s to low 50s into the weekend.
“For the foreseeable future, we’re just going to be socked with cold weather,” said Israel Gonzalez, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tallahassee.
It will get chilly fast. At about noon Monday it was 70 degrees in Tallahassee ahead of the cold front. Meanwhile, 100 miles away in DeFuniak Springs it was 47.
A cold weather advisory was in effect for Tuesday morning from the Panhandle and Big Bend into Central Florida, with more advisories likely. The forecast called for wind chills as low as 20, enough to cause hypothermia with prolonged exposure to the cold.