How cool will temps get on the Mississippi Coast this weekend? Here’s the forecast.

A cold front will pass through the Mississippi Coast this weekend, bringing the first relief from heat the region has felt in months.

Temperatures could drop into the 60s Friday night and as low as 52 degrees Saturday and Sunday nights, the National Weather Service said. The cold front could also bring half an inch of rain to the Coast, which is not enough to end the drought that has plagued the region for much of the summer.

But it could mean good news for the end of hurricane season, said Dave Schlotzhauer, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

“It won’t completely obliterate chances of a hurricane,” he said. “It does help to squash the likelihood of a hurricane.”

It is hard to say whether the Gulf of Mexico will see tropical activity through October, Schlotzhauer said, because forecast models are not reliable beyond five to seven days. There are no storms forecast to enter the Gulf in the next week, he said.

When will the cold front hit?

Northwest Hancock County started to feel the cold front by Thursday evening, Schlotzhauer said. The rest of the Coast should see cooler temperatures by Friday night.

Temperatures will near the high 70s on Saturday and Sunday. By Monday, temperatures will rise again and the cold front could become a warm front as it moves north, Schlotzhauer said.

The chances of rain drop after Saturday morning.

Intense heat and lack of rain led to drought across the Mississippi Coast this summer. Hancock and Jackson counties are under extreme drought and Harrison County is so dry the U.S. Drought Monitor classifies it as “exceptional.”

The drought fueled several brush fires across Hancock County in August. It also forced a popular wildflower farm and a Christmas tree grower to close in September.

But the cooler weather, Schlotzhauer said, is “a sign that the end of hurricane season is approaching.”