What a week it has been! Not so much for us here in central Florida -- although it has been unusually chilly -- but across the eastern US as a whole weatherwise. We had an historic storm make landfall on the southern New Jersey coast and the devastation up there, particularly as someone who grew up in that area, is mind boggling. Our thoughts and prayers are certainly with folks up there who lost loved ones as they begin what will likely be a multi-year process of recovery. The pictures from towns such as Atlantic City and Seaside Heights truly leave you in awe of the power of nature. On a personal note, I have family in Wildwood Crest, NJ, -- about 30 minutes south of Atlantic City. Fortunately, many towns all the way at the southernmost part of New Jersey avoided any significant damage from Sandy, but wow was it close.

Back at home, we have a gorgeous weekend shaping up across central Florida. High pressure has moved in behind an upper level disturbance and is giving us a bright, blue sky on this Friday. We'll make it into the mid to upper 70s today which will set the stage for a chilly start tomorrow; I think we'll have lots of 40s north and west of I-4 at daybreak Saturday. As the airmass moderates, though, we'll get back into the upper 70s and low 80s Saturday afternoon with just high clouds around. Lower clouds will enter the mix on Sunday, but it will still be nice with highs in the low 80s.

Another big storm awaits next week, as the upper level pattern continues to favor amplifying low pressure along the east coast. A cold front will move through the area Tuesday, bringing temperatures by afternoon back down into the low to mid 70s, and the low attached to the front is likely to intensify along the southeast coast and move northward as a Nor'easter. Now, the pressure and intensity of this storm would be nowhere near what we saw with Sandy (model pressures with this one are around 992mb versus 950mb or lower for Sandy!). However, in the wake of Sandy, a Nor'easter is the last thing we need -- a storm that can whip and lash at a coastline for a couple of days. It seems that is likely in the cards for folks in the Mid Atlantic and Northeast by the middle of next week. 

Have a great weekend.

Brian Monahan