While you were sleeping last night, a weak front moved through central Florida kicking off what will be a windy stretch of days through the middle of this week. It was really a cold front in name only; there wasn't much of a temperature change on either side of the front. More than anything, it was a coastal wind surge: as high pressure built down the east coast, the pressure gradient -- the north-south difference in pressure -- tightened, allowing a strong, steady wind to develop.

As the wind shift line moved through central Florida, temperatures leveled out inland and spiked dramatically across our northern coastal areas. Take Daytona Beach, for example: at 3 AM it was 56 with a light north wind. By 4 AM, the wind was out of the northeast at 13 mph and the temperature had risen some 8 degrees -- to 64! That was the moderating effect of the strong wind off the relatively warmer waters of the Atlantic.

Check out the peak wind gusts today; many areas saw wind gusts over 30 mph with sustained wind in the neighborhood of 20 mph. In Titusville, Brevard County, the wind gusted well above tropical storm force this afternoon -- to 45 mph! It will stay breezy overnight, too. This isn't one of those days when the wind dies down after sunset -- instead of being driven by the sun's energy "mixing" down stronger wind from just above the ground, this wind is driven by a large change in pressure over a small distance and that won't change tonight (or tomorrow, for that matter). Wind will gust to 30 mph or more again on Wednesday, and this will carry plenty of Atlantic clouds inland and even the chance (10%) of a few coastal sprinkles.

By Thursday and Friday, the wind will die down and it will turn much warmer as highs make it back into the low to mid 80s.

Have a great night!

Brian Monahan