Storm passes, temperatures drop with more rain for Brevard by the weekend
The winter storm that spawned tornadoes and rumbled across parts of Florida spared Brevard any major damage as it moved across the area.
But while cooler air moved in following Tuesday's severe weather and sapped away the clouds, Space Coast residents will see more downpours as the three-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend arrives.
"A second cold front will come later this week. It will be a less defined system but there is a marginal risk for severe storms," said Robert Haley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne.
The system — made up of a squall line that stretched north of the state and along the eastern seaboard — tore across Florida and arrived in Brevard County after 6 p.m. with thunderstorms and lightning.
"We saw half an inch of rain, no hail," Haley said.
The weather service said there were preliminary reports of nine tornadoes sighted in north Florida as the strong line of storms swept over the state.
At least four deaths across the south were attributed to the storms, according to media reports. Heavy damage was reported in Panama City in the Florida Panhandle, leaving a swath of destruction that impacted homes, including one that was partly toppled, state officials reported. Schools across much of the state were closed Tuesday while in Brevard, school officials cancelled after-school activities in preparation for the rough weather.
More: Brevard braces for possible tornadoes, hail and rough seas
Temperatures dropped overnight to about 57 degrees after sunrise Wednesday and were expected to rise to the upper 60s and lower 70s, weather officials reported.
Thursday, more rain could come as the weather front that brought Tuesday's storm begins to lift northward. By Friday, a weaker cold front will sag across the state, bringing strong rain chances and stronger storms to the north of Brevard, Haley said.
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Space Coast weather forecast calls for more rain on MLK weekend
