Cold, dry weather is expected for much of the week in Fort Myers, Naples

Jack Frost has called for backup.

And while there won’t actually be any frost in the Fort Myers-Naples area, temperatures here will dip into the low 40s and there will likely be freeze warnings for the Tampa area and north.

A strong cold front hit southwest Florida over the weekend, dropping daytime temperatures to around 15 degrees.

Another front is moving through today and will cause overnight low temperatures to drop to 42 degrees, according to Rodney Wynn, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Ruskin, which covers the Fort Myers-Cape Coral area.

“There’s another dry front moving through the Southeast and there’s another high pressure area coming out of Canada,” Wynn said. “That’s where the cold weather comes from. It’s another front that won’t bring us any precipitation. But Tuesday will be even colder, and Wednesday morning will be the coldest point.”

NWS is calling for a low of 42 degrees in Fort Myers Wednesday morning, with inland areas like Lehigh Acres expecting even cooler temperatures.

Regardless of how much temperatures fall, the term “cold front” refers to any low pressure system that moves from the mainland United States to Florida during the winter and spring months.

This front will actually bring cold temperatures, cold for this region anyway.

The typical high temperature on December 4th is 79 degrees with a low of 59 degrees, according to NWS historical records.

“It looks like the lowest and coldest temperature Wednesday morning will be 42 degrees, so we’re a few degrees off the record,” Wynn said. “The record low for Fort Myers for December 4th is 36 degrees.”

Wynn said there was nothing strange on that front and that for weather watchers, winter began Sunday.

Cold front on December 4th “not unprecedented”

“It’s not unprecedented at all,” he said. “We are in our meteorological winter and this season begins on December 1st.”

Last winter was marked by an El Niño pattern that resulted in more frequent cold fronts and wetter conditions.

A La Nina is expected to begin soon, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expects below-average rainfall here through March.

“There will be rain on some fronts, there will be no rain on others,” Wynn said. “We’re still neutral to weak La Nina, so that’s pretty typical.”

A freeze warning is issued for parts of Florida

Conditions in Naples will also be cold for most of this week, according to the NWS in Miami, which covers the Naples-Marco Island area.

A meteorologist there was unable to speak Monday morning, but the NWS online forecast calls for a low of 45 Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

Overall, Florida will experience the coldest weather of the year.

“We will be issuing a freeze warning for the next few nights, but it will be primarily north of Tampa Bay and likely will not reach the Fort Myers area,” Wynn said.

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