Weather and Climate in Florida

Weather and Climate in South Florida

Florida boasts powdery white sands and emerald waters on its gulf shores in Pensacola, Tampa, and St Petersburg. To the east on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, from Cocoa Beach down through Fort Lauderdale and all the way to Key West are soft, wide beaches stretching for miles. A year-round warm climate and an abundance of sunshine have enhanced Florida's popularity for years.

Florida is one of the largest states east of the Mississippi River, and only Alaska and Michigan are larger in water surface area. South of Lake Okeechobee the climate is considered tropical.  Mean high temperatures for late July are primarily in the low 90 degree Fahrenheit with mean low temperatures for early to mid-January range in the low 40 degree Fahrenheit.

The seasons in Florida are determined more by precipitation than by temperature, with the hot, wet springs and summers making up the wet season, and mild to cool, and the relatively dry winters and autumns, making the dry season.

Certainly worth mentioning are hurricanes that pose a severe threat during hurricane season, which lasts from June 1 to November 30, although some storms have been known to form out of season. Florida is the most hurricane-prone US state, with subtropical or tropical water on a lengthy coastline. From 1851 to 2006, Florida has been struck by 114 hurricanes, 37 of them major—category 3 or above.