ORLANDO, Fla. – The whirlwind of the holiday season has passed in the blink of an eye, leaving us marveling at how swiftly Christmas and New Year’s Eve have come and gone.

As we find ourselves already on January 5th, there’s a sense of disbelief in the air. No matter where you are tuning in from, perhaps you, like many others, are still adjusting to the reality that 2026 has officially begun.

May your new year be off to a wonderful start, and may the positive energy of the season continue to accompany us as we navigate the unfolding days of this fresh year.

Let’s shift our focus to what the weather might have in store, not just for the coming week, but for the entire month ahead. It’s time to prepare for the unexpected twists and turns that the forecast might bring us.

This week promises warmer than usual temperatures, a delightful surprise for early January. Remarkably, the warm afternoon highs we’re experiencing typically don’t arrive until around March 21, aligning with the onset of spring marked by the vernal equinox. Here in town, an 80-degree day is often a herald of spring’s arrival.

Minus the equinox, Florida is already getting a taste of spring over the course of this week and the first half of the upcoming weekend.

Then it seems winter may try to finally take control of our weather, and stick around longer than just a couple of days, as we’ve seen up to this point.

One key factor I really want to touch on before delving too heavily into the temperature weeds is the lack of substantial rainfall throughout Florida. The building drought conditions are likely to become a talking point over the next few weeks, as below-average rain chances are expected to continue for the foreseeable future.

The upcoming cold front that could flip the wintry switch for Floridians is actually losing some of its punch on computer models. The colder air won’t be going away, but the shot for some needed rainfall along the nose of that cold air, where the boundary exists, is starting to drop slowly but surely.

While I do believe we can bounce back from this drop in rain chances, even if we receive some rainfall within our viewing area, it won’t do much for the dry weather conditions we’re already seeing multiply for all of us.

The latest drought monitor reveals severe drought conditions for our western Florida neighbors, as well as Alachua and Marion counties. The rest of us are seeing the abnormally dry conditions creeping in with every update. The next monitor will release this Thursday, and I’m very curious to see what it unveils.

The La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific are responsible for keeping the rain at bay. Computer models are pointing towards more frequent pushes of moisture and potential rains, but given they’re so far out in the future, these smaller-scale instances of rain will change over time.

But, rain aside, the cooler weather will try its best to stick around these parts after the upcoming cold front slated to arrive this weekend passes through.

Our jet stream should stay in a colder “funneling” configuration the next two or so weeks, providing us with a more consistent flow of cooler air from the Canadian provinces.

A few brief warm-ups are always on the table, since we are residents in the beautiful Sunshine State. However, you’ll start to see more and more 60 and 70 degree high temperatures compared to the upper 70s and low 80s characterizing this week.

Your key takeaway? Prep for a lot more back and forth.

This means prime your closet and your body to rearrange how you dress and plan your days ahead. You also want to make sure your immune system is physically nourished to avoid falling victim to the flu bug trying to show itself in our area a lot more recently.

The temps should remain on the chillier side, even more so as we start our days down the road. Afternoon temperatures will duel between more spring-like conditions and the more true traditional wintry look we’re used to here in Florida.