textproduct: Key West

KEY MESSAGES

- A strong cold front will continue press through the Keys this afternoon. This will bring a return to colder and windy conditions for the Island Chain and surrounding coastal waters.

- A good chance of showers expected along and just ahead of the front this afternoon.

- A Small Craft Advisory is in effect for all Florida Keys coastal waters, as winds will sharply increase as the front pushes through.

- Overnight lows tonight across the Upper Keys are expected to be in the mid to upper 40s, with 50 to 55 degrees for the Middle and Lower Keys. Daytime highs Friday are only expected to reach the mid 60s.

AVIATION

(18Z TAFS) Issued at 1236 PM EST Thu Feb 5 2026 A strong cold front will continue to push through the terminals over the next several hours. Scattered showers may briefly reduce visibilities to sub-VFR levels. Low CIGs are expected with the frontal passage, becoming IFR for a couple of hours, then MVFR through around 00z this evening, before cloud decks lift and slowly dissipate. Crosswinds may also become a challenge at the terminals, with northerly components to the wind gust at 20 to 25 knots at times, especially before 00z this evening. Winds will gradually slacken late in the overnight hours, with gusts becoming much less frequent after 12z Friday morning.

MARINE

Issued at 1115 AM EST Thu Feb 5 2026 A Small Craft Advisory is in effect for all Florida Keys coastal waters. From synopsis, a strong cold front will push through the Keys marine zones this afternoon and evening. This will bring another push of freshened breezes and building seas for Friday into the weekend, as high pressure builds over the Mid- Atlantic. As the high slides southeastward Sunday through early next week, breezes will slacken.

PREV DISCUSSION

Issued at 430 AM EST Thu Feb 5 2026 Winter will continue across the Keys through the weekend. A cold front, in association with a low pressure system across the Mid- Atlantic area, will slide southeastward today. Moisture will pool ahead of the front resulting in chances of showers. The best chances for showers will be across the offshore Gulf waters and the Straits of Florida, though, a few showers cannot be completely ruled out for the Island Chain. The cold front is expected to pass through the Keys sometime later today. This will result in rapidly freshening west to northwest breezes. Get ready for another blow and a return to colder and windy conditions. The peak of the winds are expected from late this afternoon into the overnight hours with gradual slackening thereafter. Highs today should reach into the lower 70s, though, this will be dependent on the amount of cloud cover and then any shower activity later today. Overnight lows tumble into the mid to upper 40s for the Upper Keys with 50 to 55 degrees for the Middle and Lower Keys. Dry air will filter in behind the front resulting in nil rain chances for tonight.

In the wake of the front, surface high pressure will move in, though, the center of this ridge will remain across the western Gulf. Therefore, breezes are expected to remain northwesterly for an extended period of time from Friday into the weekend. Another piece of energy will drop southeastward across the eastern United States over the weekend. This may result in a reinforcing weak frontal boundary to push through the Keys sometime Saturday evening or overnight. High pressure will then dominate the pattern for the the remainder of the weekend through much of next week. Moisture remains scarce resulting in near nil rain chances through the extended. Breezes will modestly slacken Friday and Friday night with gentle to moderate breezes prevailing through the period along the Island Chain. However, with the weak frontal passage potentially Saturday evening/night, breezes may increase back to moderate to fresh for a time. Temperatures will slowly moderate each day through the extended, though, we wont fully get back to average till perhaps the middle to latter half of next week. Humidity will also slowly creep up each day, especially mid next week onward, though still remaining quite comfortable.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Key West 72 55 66 59 / 60 0 0 0 Marathon 71 52 64 57 / 40 0 0 0

KEY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

FL...None. GM...Small Craft Advisory until 5 AM EST Saturday for GMZ031>035- 042>044-052>055-072>075.