textproduct: Key West

KEY MESSAGES

-Warmer than usual temperatures and light to gentle breezes persist through the weekend. Expect rising dew points through Sunday.

-A potent cold front is expected to race through the Florida Keys late Monday. Winds will rapidly shift northerly and sustained strong to near gale breezes are possible. -The cold air mass behind the front, and a reinforcing front will keep temperatures below normal for most of next week.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 1045 PM EST Sat Jan 24 2026 A relatively uneventful night is underway across the Florida Keys. The recently returned from maintenance KBYX radar is free of meteorological echoes near the island chain, but does detect some light showers percolating in the distant Straits of Florida south of the Dry Tortugas. Gentle to moderate easterly breezes along the Reef are a couple knots higher than this afternoon as mainland's thermal low dissipated with daytime heat. Current temperatures along the island chain are mild and humid ranging in the mid 70s with dew points near 70.

Not much has changed in the short term. Surface ridging nosed over southeast CONUS promotes generally easterly breezes over the Keys. This ridge will pivot into the western North Atlantic veering our winds to the east to southeast by tomorrow morning. Moderately dry air aloft will keep rain chances near nil in the short term even if low cloud cover develops overnight. Sunday will mostly be spent watching the strong cold front sweeping down into the Gulf from the Great Plains as breezes continue to veer to the south. Timing for the incoming front is still planned to arrive late Monday with a slight increase in rain chances and a strong blow to follow.

MARINE

Issued at 1045 PM EST Sat Jan 24 2026 No watches, warnings, or advisories are currently in effect for the coastal waters of the Florida Keys. From synopsis, gentle to moderate breezes are expected to veer through the weekend as a ridge becomes better established across Florida. A strong cold front is expected to race southeastward across the Gulf Sunday night and through Keys waters Monday and Monday night. Winds will freshen considerably behind the front. Near gale force winds are possible Monday Night into Tuesday. Winds relax substantially on Tuesday as high pressure builds southeastward through the southeast and across Florida.

AVIATION

(00Z TAFS) Issued at 1045 PM EST Sat Jan 24 2026 VFR and dry conditions will prevail at both EYW and MTH tonight and into tomorrow. While there may be some periodic MVFR CIGs through the night, low coverage of clouds will keep mention out of the TAFs for now. Near surface winds will be out of the east at near 10 knots, veering to the east to southeast by tomorrow morning.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Key West 70 80 71 79 / 10 0 10 20 Marathon 71 79 72 78 / 10 0 10 10

KEY WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

FL...None. GM...None.