UF students who suffer from Popsicle toes may have to ditch their flip-flops this week, as the temperature drops to near record-breaking lows.
The unusual weather is caused by northwest winds circulating around the large area of low pressure, which is now moving off the Mid-Atlantic coast, said UF Chief Meteorologist Jeff Huffman.
“Normally air masses in general flow from west to east,” he said. “It’s kind of like sticking a big boulder in the river, the air is forced to go around it and the air goes north to south.”
This change in direction is bringing abnormally cold winds from Canada, he said.
The low prediction is 35 degrees Thursday night, which nears that day’s record of 34 degrees, set in 1955, according to www.accuweather.com.
Meteorologists suspect Thursday might be the record-breaking night because the record on that night is slightly higher.
Normal high temperatures for this time period range from 75 to 80 degrees. Overnight lows this week are reaching into the 30s, which is at near-frost conditions.
Despite the cold weather, meteorologists predict the weather to warm back to up mid-80s next week, Huffman said.
Untill then, students like Micheal Tarr, a 19-year-old UF international studies junior, are not enjoying this odd cold snap.
“It’s too cold for spring,” he said.
