The climate of the northern and central parts of the U.S. state of Florida is humid subtropical. South Florida has a tropical climate. There is a definite rainy season, from May to October, when massive air storms that accumulate in the heat of the day let heavy but brief rains fall in summer.
In October, the dry season begins in much of Florida (starting early in the month in North Florida and near the end of the month in deep South Florida) and lasts until late April most years. North Florida's mid-latitude storm fronts occasionally cross the northern and central parts of the state, causing light and brief winter showers. In the middle and late winter, Florida can become extremely dry. In some years, the dry season becomes quite severe and water restrictions are imposed to conserve water. While most areas of Florida don't experience any type of frozen precipitation, North Florida may see fleeting snow or sleet several times each decade.
The USDA hardiness zones for the state range from zone 8B (15°F to 20°F) on the northwestern tip of the peninsula, to zone 12A (50°F to 55°F) in the lower Florida Keys. The Gulf Stream that crosses the Florida Strait and then north of Florida's east coast maintains moderate temperatures a few miles inland, from around Stuart, on the east coast, to Fort Myers, on the state's west coast, all year round, with few temperature extremes. The tropical ocean current also provides warm sea surface temperatures, making Florida's beaches some of the warmest waters for surfing in the continental United States. United.
Florida's geography also makes it vulnerable to the effects of climate change, both in terms of the intensification of extreme weather events, such as the intensification of hurricanes, and to coastal flooding and other effects of rising sea levels. During the winter, the prevailing winds come from the north, cross the peninsula to the south and arrive near Orlando, but are variable in the rest of the state. During the summer season, winds from the east and southeast generally blow across the peninsula. During the summer months, the average wind pattern involves a shallow ridge axis that normally extends across central Florida, with easterly winds from Tampa to the south and southwesterly winds to the north from Florida.
The maximum wind gust for the period from 1930 to 1997 was 115 miles per hour at Miami International Airport during Hurricane Andrew. In July, trade winds from the south of the northward subtropical mountain range expand northwesterly to Florida. Sometimes, Saharan dust moving around the southern periphery of the mountain range penetrates the state, suppressing rainfall and changing the sky from blue to white, causing an increase in red sunsets. Its presence negatively affects air quality throughout the southeastern United States during the summer, as the amount of particles suspended in the air.
This is in stark contrast to the normally clean air in Florida and the southeastern U.S. In the United States, which on average is the cleanest air in the United States. UU. More than 50% of the African dust that reaches the United States affects Florida.
Since 1970, dust outbreaks have worsened due to periods of drought in Africa. There is great variability in the transport of dust to the Caribbean and Florida from one year to the next. It is possible that dust events are related to a decline in the health of coral reefs in the Caribbean and Florida, mainly since the 1970s. On average, Florida has the mildest winters in the continental United States.
Average lows range from 65°F in Key West to nearly 41°F in Tallahassee, while daytime highs range from 62°F in Tallahassee to 77°F in Miami. The prevailing tropical winds of the This one in central and southern Florida keeps temperatures warm during the winter. Occasionally, strong cold fronts move south across the peninsula with temperatures below zero or almost below zero on some nights to inland areas of central Florida every few years. Sometimes each decade, Miami can see nightfall below 45°F.
El Niño winters tend to be colder due to increased cloud cover, but tend to have less frost. USDA zone 12A, the hottest zone in the state, with average extreme annual lows of between 50°F and 55°F, is located in the Dry area Turtles. USDA Zone 11B, with average annual lows between 45°F and 50°F, is located between Key West and Marathon. USDA Zone 11A, with average annual lows of between 40°F and 45°F, is found in the rest of the Florida Keys, Miami Beach, and parts of downtown Miami.
USDA Zone 10B, with average annual lows of between 35°F and 40°F, is located on the coast of South Florida and in much of the Everglades. USDA Zone 10A, with average annual lows of between 30°F and 35°F, is found in the rest of South Florida and in certain coastal regions as far north such as St. Petersburg, on the state's west coast, and roughly Vero Beach, on the state's east coast. USDA Zone 9B, with average annual lows of between 25°F and 30°F, is in the interior of Central Florida and continues north to Fernandina Beach.
USDA zone 9A, with average annual lows of between 20°F and 25°F, is located across an area that extends from Ocala to Pensacola. USDA zone 8B, the coldest zone in the state, with average annual lows of between 15°F and 20°F, is located in the extreme northwest of Florida, along the northern part from Esambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton and Holmes counties. Despite being the mildest on average, winter weather was a crucial contributing factor to the Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986, when nighttime temperatures in Titusville, adjacent to the Kennedy Space Center, dropped to 24 °F and were still below freezing, from 28.0 °F to 28.9 °F on the day of launch. The severe cold had caused the SRB O-rings on the right side to crack, as they only had a tolerance of 39°F on the red line.
Across the state, the highest amounts of rain occur during the summer months. In North Florida, there is a weak secondary peak during winter, while across the state there is the driest months of the year they are during spring. During El Niño, Florida has the highest rainfall between November and March. Due to the lack of a secondary maximum throughout the peninsula, a different dry season is observed in the averages, from winter to spring.
This dry season causes brush fires every year, as temperatures rise in late spring, before disappearing in early June, when the rainy season begins. Six climate classifications use the term to help define the different temperature and precipitation regions of planet Earth. According to the Trewartha climate classification, eight or more months of the year in the subtropics have an average temperature equal to or greater than 10 °C (50 °F). In contrast, the Köppen climate classification classifies the warmest month above 22 °C (71.6 °F) and the coldest month above 0 °C (32 °F) or −3 °C (26.6 °F), depending on preferences.
Under both classifications, at least one month must have an average of less than 18 °C (64.4 °F) or the climate is considered tropical. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order before possible tropical cyclone 9, which declared a state of emergency in 41 Florida counties. A narrow eastern part of the state, including Orlando and Jacksonville, receives 2,400 to 2,800 hours of sunshine a year.
