Arctic Air Sets New Records

MIAMI (CBS4) - It looks like the frigid air that has dominated South Florida for the past few days is finally starting to break. But, the arctic blast left a trail of record lows in the area and record snowfall in the Northeast.

Tuesday turned out to be colder than Monday due to clear skies that allowed radiational cooling overnight. Temperatures tumbled into the low to mid 30s inland, with the upper 30s and low 40s near the coast.

Fort Lauderdale set a new record low Tuesday morning at 36 degrees, breaking a 54-year-old record of 38 set in 1956. Key West also hit 49 degrees which shattere4d the old record of 51 set in 1977.

Miami was just a few degrees shy of breaking the old record of 37 set back in 1902.

An Arctic high pressure will dominate the weather pattern Tuesday and it will remain cold and brisk throughout the afternoon with highs in the low to mid 60's and plenty of winter sunshine.

Tuesday night, temperatures will fall to the 40's and tomorrow a milder trend begins with highs back in the low 70's.

As high pressure begins to move to the east over the Western Atlantic; the winds will shift out of the southeast and east towards the end of the week and into the weekend.

That will spark a warming trend that will continue and bring the area temperatures closer to normal. It will still be cool at night and in the morning hours with lows in the upper 50's and low 60's; but South Florida will enjoy pleasant afternoons with highs back in the upper 70's by the weekend.