The weather roller-coaster in South Florida has heat, cold — and a fire watch, too

There are amusement park roller-coasters like the ones at the Miami-Dade Youth Fair. There was a “Love Roller-coaster” in song. This week there’s a weather roller-coaster for South Florida.

WSVN meteorologist Vivian Gonzalez is calling it a “temperature roller-coaster” because Wednesday’s temperatures are hot — up to 85 degrees — ahead of a cold front that moves in Thursday. The front should take temperatures down to about 58 degrees, with highs of just 70 or so on Friday and Saturday morning.

Then the temperatures ramp up Sunday and Monday to a range of around 80 degrees on the high end and 64 on the low. By Tuesday, a colder front arrives to take South Florida on a ride from the upper 60s or near 70 degrees to a steep drop to 54, Gonzalez predicts.

She’s in line with the National Weather Service in Miami that forecasts temperatures at, or above, normal on Wednesday before Thursday’s front. The service also warns of dense fog and rip currents along the beaches as the front is expected to bring gusty winds to South Florida.

West Kendall had visibility of less than a quarter mile Wednesday morning due to the fog, CBS4 meteorologist Lissette Gonzalez said. Kendall, Homestead and Naples saw the worst of the fog, added NBC6 meteorologist Adam Berg.

“Gotta love these South Florida winters,” Berg said on Twitter.

According to the National Weather Service in Key West, “a strong cold front” pushing through the Florida Keys late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning will likely merit small craft advisories “for at least portions of the coastal waters for Thursday into Thursday night.”

Key West could see a low of 60 degrees Thursday and a high of just 70 on Friday.

Dry conditions

The roller-coaster week of weather in South Florida is not just the predicted temperature fluctuations. It also adds a not-so fun house element of danger by Thursday as the region will be under a fire watch due to dry conditions that have largely persisted since Christmas.

“A fire weather watch goes into effect from Thursday morning through Thursday evening due to low relative humidity levels and gusty winds leading to a high fire danger for South Florida,” CBS4’s Gonzalez said. “Outdoor burning is not recommended.”

For all that Mother Nature has in store, one glaring item is missing from the forecast — still.

Rain.

Despite the cold fronts, rain chances are still minimal, with mostly sunny skies through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. The best chances for rain would be Monday or Tuesday at 20%.

Any weather records?

No records are expected to be set.

But Wednesday’s heat comes closest, reports WSVN’s Gonzalez. The forecast high of 85 degrees is three degrees away from the record 88 degrees in Miami in 1984 and Fort Lauderdale in 1929. The high of 80 in Key West is four degrees cooler than the record 84 in 1984.