ORLANDO, Fla. – The mercury soared today, delivering temperatures that felt more like summer than winter in Florida. While some thermometers might not have hit record highs, the warmth was a stark reminder of how unusual this winter has been.

But this heatwave isn’t over yet…

This afternoon, several areas in town experienced record-breaking temperatures. Notably, Lakeland smashed its previous January record entirely!

Meanwhile, the Orlando metro area and the airport matched their daytime record of 86 degrees, a temperature not seen at this time of January since 2023.

Later in the afternoon, temperatures climbed even further to 87 degrees, setting a new record for January 25.

Next on the list, we’ve got Ocala! You folks up that way tied the record as well of about 85 degrees. This was also set back in 2023, I’m hoping you’re noticing a trend here.

Melbourne was just like Lakeland this afternoon, smashing right through their previous January record which was 85. They topped out at 86 degrees earlier today, which leaves the 25th of this month 2026 as the new undisputed champ.

Once more, we saw temps like that occur in Melbourne and lower Brevard back in 2023. That’s a bit of a signal I will talk to you more about in a later article!

Now I hope like a true Floridian you’ve taken advantage of the heat. This has been an unseasonably warm period for us in the Sunshine State but it’s about to vanish for the rest of the month.

The reason for such above average warmth has been the winter storm everyone’s been talking about. It is still ongoing and the trailing cold frontal boundary is set to arrive as we go through tonight and especially Monday morning.

Given we’re dealing with very thick but shallow polar and arctic air, there’s going to be a bit of a lag. Even though the cold front itself slides through our neighborhood tonight into your Monday, the coldest air will take some time to show up. Call it, fashionably late after all this heat.

A few of us will need to pack the rain gear just in case. Around daybreak time, the cold front will be somewhere directly overhead Central Florida. Some of the leftover showers and rain will still be in the picture which could leave roads wet and some drops still falling atop you.

I am not anticipating any hefty weather delays, which is always great news! But then the true winter hazards finally make their presence known.

National Weather Service was very preemptive in their watch issuance today.

A freeze watch is in effect valid for Monday night into Tuesday morning for the following counties:

• Alachua

• Flagler

• Lake

• Marion

• Sumter

• Volusia

Monday night temps plummet, pretty fast I’ll add. As we wake up on Tuesday morning our northern counties will be at the freezing point, and the rest of us especially south and east of the I-4 corridor will be close enough to it.

If the air temps don’t get you, the cranking winds will absolutely make it feel like the air is freezing. You likely felt the gusty conditions throughout your Sunday. They won’t be going away just yet.

So as the coldest air comes down, the wind will add an extra layer of bite to the concoction. Feels like temps as we step outside Tuesday could be in the upper TEENS for areas of our northernmost counties like Flagler, Putnam, Alachua, and Marion.

The further south you go… things improve, but that’s a relative term in this case.

Wednesday will only warm so much, but you should absolutely be prepared to layer up as best you can and remain indoors until the sun can do a little warming after about the 9-10 a.m. hour.

For the rest of the week, our morning low’s won’t be changing a whole lot. Mid to upper 30s as we countdown to the start of February. During the “relatively” warmest parts of your afternoon hours, we’ll have to give thanks if you manage to touch the 60 degree mark.

Also, looking ahead for the weekend, while computer models are still a bit wonky in terms of latching on to a more confident solution, there is a shot we get some extra rain in the area all thanks to another area of low pressure expected to try and spin up in the western Gulf.

We’re still a bit on the hazy side in terms of how much rain we could receive in this case. It looks like an all or nothing sort of affair. Stick with us during your week ahead as we dial in the temps and the rain chances for the last Saturday of January and the very first day of February 2026.