Orlando weather: Pleasant Friday in Central Florida ahead of rainy Daytona 500 weekend

ORLANDO, Fla. - From Thursday night into Friday morning, it will be mostly cloudy with patchy fog developing, accompanied by a light breeze. On Friday afternoon, it will be a mostly cloudy sky with highs in the mid-upper 70s and a slight chance for a sprinkle or passing shower.

BEACH FORECAST: Not great with chilly and cloudy conditions along the coastline.

THEME PARK FORECAST: Make the most of Friday! The majority of the weekend will be essentially a washout.

WEEKEND AND DAYTONA 500: A very slow-moving front will set up over Florida, and waves of energy will ride along it. It looks like an unusual amount of rain will fall for this time of year, with 1–3 inches of rain expected and isolated 3-inch-plus reports possible. Saturday will be showery during the day, with steady rain developing everywhere late in the day, during the 5-8 p.m. timeframe. Steady rain will then fall nearly everywhere in Central Florida from Saturday evening through Sunday evening. Sunday, at this point, looks the rainiest of this spell and a total washout. It is highly likely that the Daytona 500 will be delayed or postponed.  The rain doesn't taper until late Sunday evening. Then some drizzle and mist may linger overnight Sunday through early Monday morning. 

EARLY NEXT WEEK: Monday starts cloudy before clearing arrives in the afternoon with brisk NW winds. For the likely Monday evening race of the Daytona 500, the weather should be great, but it is feeling quite chilly, with temperatures falling through the 50s for Monday evening and a mostly clear sky. Tuesday through Thursday next week warms up and is mostly sunny and very nice. The high 70s will return by the end of next week.