A cold front was moving across the south-eastern States, including northern Florida, unusually far southwards for the time of year. As this cold front encountered the deep, tropical moisture across the northern peninsula, there was a real threat of severe weather. So, we decided to make the drive to northern parts of Florida through the day to see whether the severe threat was justified.

We travelled northwards during the late morning, stopping in Ocala in Marion County for lunch. A line of thunderstorms was already developing ahead of the cold front, and these pulse storms rumbled outside as we tucked into pizza. Once lunch was over, we continued to drive a little further north to encounter the cold front on the Alachula County border. This brought an abrupt change to very cloudy conditions with torrential rain and strong winds, albeit with very little lightning. It appeared that the severe portions of the front were already clearing eastwards into the Atlantic.

A pre-frontal squall line was developing nicely to our south, some of the cells with severe warnings tagged to them. After weighing up our options, we decided to head south-eastwards towards the coast at Melbourne. Our theory was that the eastward-moving squall would encounter the east coast sea breeze later in the day, and skies were still sunny in the Melbourne area, adding extra heat to the equation.

So, we headed eastwards to I-95, then southwards along the Space Coast. We were forced to punch through the squall line north of Titusville. The heaviest rain we've ever seen effectively brought the interstate to a standstill, with most people opting to pull onto the hard shoulder and wait out the storm. Small hail and very gusty winds were witnessed, as well as frequent cloud-to-ground lightning. We exited the southern side of the squall, and on looking back were greeted with a superb barrage of thunder clouds, together with a stunning shelf cloud.

The next few hours were spent driving stop-start southwards along the coast. As the line of storms were orientated south-west to north-east, they were hitting the coast at an angle, which was spreading southwards along the coast like a closing zip. Each time we stopped to let the storm approach, we were blasted by strong outflow winds carrying sand, dust and other painful particules. We also witnessed numerous branches torn from trees, bins and shop fronts blown over, and a significant drop in temperature. At Cape Canaveral, wind gusts exceeded 60mph, blowing sand and dust into the car even though the windows were shut!

We finished up around Melbourne, allowing the line of storms to pass over us. Lightning was still frequent enough to allow us some night-time photography, before we checked into a hotel on the western side of Melbourne. More storms are likely tomorrow in this area, so we're well-placed.