FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A chill in the air spread across South Florida as a cold front descended on the Sunshine State, sending temperatures tumbling into the upper 40s and low 50s on Veterans Day.
The coldest air felt in the region this season did not stop people from going out on their walks along Fort Lauderdale Beach on a chilly but sunny Tuesday morning. Some people were even wearing shorts.
A man riding his bicycle told 7News he was startled by the the abrupt change in temperatures, which were as high as the 80s on Monday and hit 87 on Sunday.
“I’m absolutely freezing. It’s 47 degrees; this is crazy but enjoyable,” he said. “Yeah, I bike every morning, but this is definitely a new extreme, but I gotta keep up the routine.”
As late as 7 a.m. on Tuesday, parts of Broward County did not crack 50 degrees Fahrenheit. As of 8 a.m., Coral Springs and Weston reported 47 degrees, Davie and Hollywood reported 48, and Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Pembroke Pines and Pompano Beach reported 49 degrees.
South of the county line, Coconut Grove, Doral, Miami Shores, North Miami and South Miami reported 49 degrees, but most of Miami-Dade remains in the low 50s, with 50 degrees reported in the City of Miami, Miami Beach, Miami Lakes, Opa-locka and Sunny Isles Beach. Temperatures were back up to the low 60s by noon.
Most of the Florida Keys stayed in the mid to high 50s through the morning and rose to the 60s in the afternoon.
Almost everyone who spoke to 7News on Fort Lauderdale Beach said they’re enjoying the change of weather.
“It’s nice, for a difference. Yeah, I’m enjoying it,” said a woman.
“It’s a beautiful change. You only get so many days [like this] a year, so we’re Floridian, wear the shorts,” said a man wearing a Chicago baseball cap, a light gray hoodie and light gray short shorts. “We’re warm up top, cold on the bottom.”
“Yeah, no, it’s great. It’s definitely a big change from the 95 degrees and 100% humidity, so I’m definitely going to enjoy it,” said a man.
“If we get five more days of this, I wouldn’t complain,” said a woman.
The cold blast kept many people off the beach … except one man seen jumping in the water in swim trunks.
For a couple visiting from Arizona, 40s in Florida was not part of their vacation plans.
“All my body’s been so tightened up that I’ve had leg cramps, toe cramps. I’m like stiff,” said one of the visitors as she showed 7News her pink Nike slippers. “I didn’t bring shoes.”
But for four women visting from Baltimore, Maryland, it’s the perfect weather to enjoy a workout by the sea.
“It always makes me rethink, like, my life, like, ‘Should I really be living in Baltimore, or do I need to just move to the beach?'” said one of the visitors.
Windy conditions are making the temperatures chillier than they are, as low as the lower 40s in Broward, with gusts reported between 25 and 35 miles per hour.
But the visitor from Maryland who spoke with 7News had some choice words for South Florida residents.
“You know nothing of cold, nothing. This is, at 7 o’clock in the morning, this is what we experience at noon,” she said. “Be grateful.”
She wasn’t kidding. The morning low in Baltimore was 30.
Most of South Florida won’t rise above the mid 60s into Tuesday evening. People are advised to dress in layers when going out all day Tuesday.
South Florida is expected to get back into the 80s by this weekend.
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