Climate of Florida 

Introduction 

This publication consists of a narrative that describes some of the principal climatic features and 

a number of climatological summaries for stations in various geographic regions of the State. 

The detailed information presented should be sufficient for general use; however, some users 

may require additional information. 

The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) located in Asheville, North Carolina is authorized to 

perform special services for other government agencies and for private clients at the expense of 

the requester. The amount charged in all cases is intended to solely defray the expenses incurred 

by the government in satisfying such specific requests to the best of its ability. It is essential that 

requesters furnish the NCDC with a precise statement describing the problem so that a mutual 

understanding of the specifications is reached. 

Unpublished climatological summaries have been prepared for a wide variety of users to fit 

specific applications. These include wind and temperature studies at airports, heating and 

cooling degree day information for energy studies, and many others. Tabulations produced as 

by-products of major products often contain information useful for unrelated special problems. 

The Means and Extremes of meteorological variables in the Climatography of the U.S. No.20 

series are recorded by observers in the cooperative network. The Normals, Means and Extremes 

in the Local Climatological Data, annuals are computed from observations taken primarily at 

airports. 

The editor of this publication expresses his thanks to those State Climatologists, who, over the 

years, have made significant and lasting contributions toward the development of this very useful 

series. 

State and Station Normals are available at: 

http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/climatenormals/climatenormals.pl

Visit our Web Site for other weather data: www.ncdc.noaa.gov

Non-Subscription Request: Hard Copy Subscription Request: 

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Climate of Florida 

Physical Features- Most of Florida consists of a low, 400 mile long peninsula, part of the 

nation’s southeastern coastal plain which runs from Texas to Virginia. Although the highest 

elevation in Florida is only 345 feet above sea level, there is considerable local relief along its 

border with Alabama and southwestern Georgia, as well as along the spine of the peninsula. 

Within these two hill regions there are many places where, within a square mile, there is as much 

as a 150 to 200 feet difference between the highest and lowest elevation. The surface of most of 

the State is covered by infertile sand or loam, often with a hardpan layer beneath which restricts 

water absorption. The surface sands and loams rest upon a thick layer of soluble limestone that 

has been greatly eroded. Within much of the State, numerous limestone features such as 

sinkholes, underground rivers, and large volume springs may be found. In volume of discharge, 

Florida has some of the nation’s largest springs. Also, within its limestone foundation are found 

several large aquifers, the most important of which is the Floridan, said to contain as much water 

as the entire Great Lakes system. Unfortunately, the water in the aquifer becomes saline under 

the southern half of the peninsula and is of little economic value. 

Lakes, both large and small, are scattered throughout the State and are especially concentrated in 

the Orlando area. The State’s largest, Lake Okeechobee, is also the largest lake entirely within 

one state. The origin of Lake Okeechobee is in dispute, but most believe that it was formed in 

recent geological history beneath a shallow sea. 

Florida has rivers, but because of its peninsular shape, except for the St. Johns, most are short. 

Many are subterranean for part of their course. Since much of the peninsula is flat, floodplains 

of these rivers often are very broad and swampy. North Florida rivers flow out of Alabama and 

Georgia. The volume of discharge of the Apalachicola is among the greatest of any that enter the 

ocean east of the Mississippi River. The southern one-third of the peninsula is both low and 

almost completely flat. A large portion is made up of the Everglades, the so-called “River of 

Grass”. 

In an effort to popularize its tourist industry, Florida was named “The Sunshine State”. However, 

the arid part of the western United States has many more hours of sunshine during the year than 

Florida. During the winter, however, Florida has approximately double the amount of hours of 

sunlight than the states in the northeastern quadrant of the nation, and far milder temperatures. 

Mild and sunny winters are Florida’s greatest physical asset, and without these weather elements 

it would be far less attractive to visitors and individuals relocating. Its agriculture is heavily 

based on winter warmth, and it supplies not only citrus, but also winter vegetables. 

Most of the State lies within the extreme southern portion of the Northern Hemisphere’s humid 

subtropical climate zone, noted for its long hot and humid summers and mild and wet winters. 

The southernmost portion of the State is generally designated as belonging to the tropical 

savanna region, a climate that it shares with most of the Caribbean islands. Sometimes also 

called the wet and dry tropics, tropical savanna precipitation is highly concentrated in the 

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warmer months. The chief factors that govern Florida’s climate are latitude, land and water 

distribution, prevailing winds, storms, pressure systems and ocean currents. Although no place 

in Florida is far from sea level, during the winter altitude can be a significant local factor in 

affecting temperature. Early grove owners quickly learned that the citrus trees they planted in 

depressions were much more susceptible to freezes than those planted on higher ground. 

Temperature- Mean temperatures during Florida’s coldest month (January) range from the lower 

50s in the north to the upper 60s in the south. In the hottest month (usually July, but in places 

August) it is almost the same throughout the entire State, between 81 and 83 degrees Fahrenheit 

(° F). Every day of the year the sun reaches Florida at a higher angle than farther north, and 

consequently its power to heat is greater. For example, in New York City during January the 

rays of the sun reach a maximum angle during the day of about 26 degrees above the horizon, 

while in Miami the angle is about 40 degrees. The sun’s rays at their highest, around June 21st, 

strike New York at about a 65° angle, while in Miami the sun is almost directly overhead. 

In the winter, maximum temperatures throughout Florida are balmy compared with those of 

northern states. The mean maximum temperature in northern Florida during January is about 65 

while south of Lake Okeechobee it is approximately 76° F. Even in northern Florida between 

December and February on average the daily maximum temperature rises above 75° F between 

20 and 30 percent of the time and south of Lake Okeechobee the percentage exceeds 75 percent. 

Large water bodies, particularly the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, but to a lesser 

degree large lakes like Okeechobee and Apopka, are the major modifiers of the State’s 

temperature during all seasons, but particularly in the winter. Maximum temperatures in the 

winter on the peninsula, particularly the southern half, tend to be slightly higher on the Atlantic 

than the Gulf Coast, in part because on the east coast winds come off of the Atlantic and pass 

over the relatively warm Gulf Stream. Winter prevailing winds on the west coast are from the 

land, which is often cooler at that time of year than the water of the Gulf of Mexico. 

Average maximum temperatures in the State begin to reach into the upper 80s in April, first in 

the interior of the peninsula. From there, these high temperatures spread out towards the coasts. 

The spatial advance of the “Dog Days of Summer” is retarded near the coast by sea breezes, 

which are most powerful during the summer. Average maximum temperatures rise above 88° F 

on the west coast during May and along most of the east coast in June. At times, helped by the 

easterly trade winds, sea breezes can reach more than 25 miles into the interior. 

Miami-Dade County provides an excellent example of how the ocean, and specifically the sea 

breeze, modifies temperature. There are three weather stations close to each other; Miami Beach 

which is on the shore, Miami International Airport that is eight miles in the interior, and 40-Mile 

Bend, about 40 miles from the coast. The eight miles between Miami Beach and Miami 

International makes a significant difference in both average maximum and minimum 

temperatures. Throughout the year, maximum temperatures are at least two degrees higher at the 

airport, slightly more in the summer than the winter. Minimum temperatures are two to three 

degrees higher at the Miami Beach station than that at the airport during the colder months, but 

only one degree higher during the warmer months. 40-Mile Bend’s maximum temperature is 

higher than that of the airport in all months, and the minimum temperatures is lower. 

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Florida’s summer high temperatures can be extremely enervating, although air conditioning has 

made life more bearable. In an average year, Florida experiences far fewer days when 

temperatures reach above 100° F than in most other states. However, due to the fact that Florida 

is among the wettest states in the nation and its atmosphere is so humid, its summers are among 

the most uncomfortable. When humidity is high, evaporation of perspiration from the skin is 

inhibited, and one feels hotter than if humidity were lower. In Florida, during the warmest time 

of the day, relative humidity throughout the State averages in the 50 and 60 percent range. 

During the cooler hours it is higher, in the 70 and 80 percent range. The heat index, sometimes 

called the sensible temperature, takes into account both relative humidity and actual temperature. 

During the height of the summer, when most of the time the temperature is in the low 90s in midafternoon, it feels about 10° F higher than the actual temperature. Fortunately the difference 

between the actual and sensible temperature declines rapidly with a drop in the actual 

temperature and is negligible below 80° F. Consequently, except in the summer, humidity is not 

a major inconvenience. Compared to the northern states, during the year Florida has a far greater 

number of days where the maximum temperature falls within the comfort range of between 70 

and 85° F. In the northern part of the State the number of days between 70 and 85 is between 

125 and 150 days, and it rises above 200 days in the Tampa Bay area and along the Atlantic 

Coast from Melbourne southward. In the interior of the peninsula, it is between 175 and 200 

days. 

During the winter North Florida is occasionally invaded by massive cold fronts that originate far 

to the north. Although the temperature within these air masses rises significantly during their 

passage to Florida, they are capable of bringing intense cold to the State. The State’s record 

minimum temperature was set in February 1899 when Tallahassee experienced -2° F. Once cold 

waves move onto the peninsula the relatively warm waters of the Atlantic and the Gulf of 

Mexico exert their influence, and the airmass’ temperature rises. Nonetheless, temperatures in 

the low 20s have been experienced in the Everglades south of Lake Okeechobee. Not a year 

goes by when there is not some damage to the citrus or vegetable crop somewhere in the State. 

Severe freezes in the 19th and 20th centuries gradually drove the center of citrus production 

southward from the Orlando area to southern Polk County. Winter vegetable growers have long 

concentrated their production south of Lake Okeechobee, where they gamble each year that their 

crop will be spared a severe blow from freezes. 

Precipitation- Florida is only exceeded by Louisiana as the wettest state in the nation. On 

average, approximately 54 inches of precipitation falls on the State each year, one inch less than 

in Louisiana. Although snow falls periodically in Florida, and in North Florida, on exceedingly 

rare occasions, has accumulated to a depth of several inches, almost all precipitation is in the 

form of rain. Most of the rain that falls on Florida is convective. Although it is often assumed 

that there are many more days of precipitation in Florida than in states farther north, this is not 

true. Throughout most of the states east of the Mississippi River, including Florida, a tenth of an 

inch or more of precipitation falls on 70 to 80 days in an average year. Actually in Florida 

during an average year, rain is falling about 10 percent of the time, while around the Great Lakes 

it is around 20 percent. It is in the intensity of its precipitation that Florida differs from states 

farther north. Of the days in Florida when there is measurable precipitation, between 30 and 35 

percent have accumulations of half an inch or more, compared with 15 to 25 percent in states 

north of the Ohio River. 

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The Panhandle and southeastern Florida are the wettest parts of the State. The driest portions are 

the Florida Keys and the offshore bar of Cape Canaveral. The Panhandle receives so much rain 

because it has two wet seasons, one during the winter when fronts pass through bringing rain, the 

other in the summer, when convective rain falls. Frontal precipitation plays an increasingly 

smaller role in annual precipitation the farther south one goes down the peninsula. While half of 

the Panhandle precipitation occurs during the hot months between May and August, in Central 

Florida the share rises to between 60 and 65 percent. In the Keys and the extreme southwestern 

peninsula it rises to over 70 percent. Coastal locations, including the Keys, receive less rain than 

those nearby but farther in the interior because they do not provide as good an environment for 

convectional heating. 

The Azores-Bermuda High Pressure system exerts a powerful influence on peninsular Florida’s 

weather during the winter. Within high pressure systems air is subsiding, and as a consequence 

precipitation cannot take place. The Azores-Bermuda High remains over the Sahara Desert 

throughout the year, but extends over Florida during the winter. As the water around the State 

warms in the spring, the high-pressure system over Florida weakens and the summer rains begin. 

Some years the influence of the Azores-Bermuda High is greater than in others, so even in 

extremely South Florida rain may fall during the winter. 

The State’s summer rainy season normally first begins in southeastern Florida in late April and 

then moves northward. However, it can be delayed in all or part of the State by the prolonged 

presence of the Azores-Bermuda High, or a high-pressure system that moves in from the Gulf of 

Mexico. The fall dry season begins in North Florida in September, and spreads southward, 

arriving in extreme South Florida in mid-November. Of course tropical storms can postpone the 

arrival of the dry season. Frontal rain normally begins to fall in North Florida in early 

November, and seldom occurs after mid-April. South of Orlando, frontal rain of the type 

experienced in North Florida is rare. 

Summer rain is generally in the form of local thunderstorms, or thunderstorms that form in long 

squall lines created when hot humid air from the Atlantic Ocean converges with equally hot and 

humid air from the Gulf of Mexico. Whatever the cause of this convective activity, thunder 

clouds form during the morning, and brief but heavy periods of rain usually follow during the 

afternoon. Since summer rain in Florida is so dependent upon air being heated by the earth’s 

surface, a large share of the rain occurs during the daylight hours, especially in the afternoon. 

Florida, especially in the center of the State, experiences around 85 thunderstorms each year. 

The State usually leads the nation in lightning deaths due to the large number of people involved 

in outdoor activities such as swimming, boating and golfing. 

A surprisingly large share of Florida’s precipitation falls during periods of torrential rain, which 

here is defined as 3 inches or more within a 24-hour period. For nearly 29 years Florida held the 

national record for the greatest amount of rain to fall during a 24-hour period. On September 5, 

1950 a hurricane drowned the village of Yankeetown, on the Big Bend coast, with 38.7 inches of 

rainfall. It held the record until 1979 when remnants of tropical storm Claudette dropped 43 

inches of rain on Alvin, Texas in a 24-hour period. Most of these storms arrive from either the 

Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico, and consequently the coasts receive a far larger share of their 

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annual precipitation from these storms than does the interior. On the Panhandle coast and in the 

Keys it is around 17 percent, but in the center of the State it falls to around five to eight percent. 

Florida weather stations experience enormous variation in their annual as well as monthly 

precipitation. It is not uncommon for stations in some years to have half or double their normal 

monthly precipitation, and the variation becomes even greater when a station’s monthly 

precipitation is compared over a long period. This is most true of the winter months in South 

Florida, which is normally dry, but may experience tropical disturbances even during the height 

of its dry season. 

On an average day, Florida receives about 150 billion gallons of rainwater, as well as 25 billion 

gallons from rivers leaving Georgia and Alabama. It must be remembered, however, that Florida 

has a warm climate, and on an average day about 100 billion gallons of water evaporate from the 

State’s surface or are transpired by plants into the atmosphere. The precipitation balance is 

delicate, and drought is not infrequent. Fortunately, the State has vast reserves of underground 

water stored in aquifers, which in normal years is adequate for urban as well as agricultural use. 

Nonetheless, in South Florida, during prolonged dry periods, the water withdrawn greatly 

exceeds that which is added, causing the water table to fall to alarmingly low levels and 

necessitating the implementation of water conservation regulations. Periodically the State has 

entertained building a pipeline from lightly populated North Florida, where water is abundant, to 

South Florida, but environmental issues have prevented its construction. Presently a number of 

desalination plants have been built between Tampa and the Keys to lessen the burden on local 

underground water supplies. 

Meteorologists have examined the relationship between Florida climate and ENSO (El NiñoSouthern Oscillation). ENSO is a physical phenomenon that occurs in the equatorial Pacific 

Ocean where the water temperature oscillates between being unusually warm (El Niño) and 

unusually cold (La Niña). El Niño and La Niña are among the strongest drivers of the climate of 

North America, with impacts that vary across different regions. These oceanic events shift the 

position of the jet streams across the continent, which act to steer the fronts and weather systems. 

Change the predominant tracks of the weather systems, and you change the resulting long-term 

weather. Because the jet streams are strongest in winter months, the temperature and 

precipitation shifts are also more pronounced in the cold season. The Southeast United States 

experiences particularly strong long-term weather shifts, with Florida feeling the greatest 

impacts. El Niño typically brings 30 to 40 percent more rainfall and cooler temperatures to 

Florida in the winter, while La Niña brings a warmer and much drier than normal winter and 

spring. La Niña is frequently a trigger to periodic drought in Florida. 

The resulting jet stream patterns from El Niño and La Niña also act to suppress damaging 

freezes. During El Niño, a strong subtropical jet tends to block the intrusions of arctic air that 

bring exceptionally cold temperatures. La Niña sets up a different jet stream pattern, which 

tends to steer the colder air to the north. The threat of severe freezes is highest, up to three times 

more likely, when neither El Niño nor La Niña is affecting the weather. 

In general, El Niño (warmer than normal waters in the tropical Pacific) is a “good dude” for 

Florida. In addition to bringing beneficial winter rainfall and suppressing damaging freezes, it 

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also lessens the severity of the Hurricane Season. It has now been shown conclusively that El 

Niño suppresses the formation of hurricanes and tropical storms by creating an environment 

unfavorable for development due to wind shear. 

Most tropical storms and hurricanes that have the potential of reaching the United States 

originate in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea or the Atlantic Ocean a few degrees north of the 

equator. Both tropical storms and hurricanes are strong tropical low-pressure systems. When the 

sustained wind velocity in a tropical system rises above 73 miles per hour, it is reclassified from 

a tropical storm to a hurricane. Being a peninsula, the length of Florida’s coastline is nearly as 

long as the combined coastlines of all the other states from Virginia to Texas. Consequently, it is 

not surprising that more tropical systems of all kinds have made their first landfall here. 

Between 1901 and 2002, 86 hurricanes and 73 tropical storms entered Florida. During some 

decades conditions are more conducive for tropical storm and hurricane development than in 

others. Hurricanes are classified by intensity, category one being the weakest, category five the 

strongest. Hurricanes gain their strength from warm water. At the beginning and end of the 

hurricane season those hurricanes that have reached Florida have been relatively weak. In 

September, the height of the hurricane season, most of the more powerful hurricanes have 

formed and left the Atlantic. Until satellites could monitor their development, it was difficult to 

ascertain where hurricanes first developed. It appears that slightly more originate in the Atlantic 

than the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico. 

The probability of tropical storms reaching a specific part of the Florida coastline varies little, 

but there is great variation in the arrival of hurricanes. The northwestern coast has experienced 

the most, closely followed by that of the southeast and the southwest. Very few hurricanes have 

entered Florida between Melbourne and Jacksonville. Actually Jacksonville has only sustained a 

direct hit by one hurricane, Dora in 1964. Several, however, have passed it by just offshore. 

Both tropical storms and hurricanes, if they pass over highly populated areas, are capable of 

producing many fatalities and enormous property damage. The hurricane that caused the highest 

number of deaths entered the State at West Palm Beach in September 1928 and passed over Lake 

Okeechobee. It released so much rain over the lake that the primitive dike that was built on the 

southern shore to protect an agricultural area behind it burst. The flood that followed killed 

approximately 1,800 people, mostly migrant farm workers. On Labor Day 1935, what is still the 

most powerful hurricane in the nation’s weather history passed over the northern Keys. As a 

result of a lack of coordination in the State’s then primitive warning system, approximately 400 

people lost their lives. Florida learned a lesson from that Labor Day hurricane, and began to 

appropriate money for a better warning system. Since then fatalities from hurricanes have been 

greatly reduced. 

In terms of property damage, the second most costly natural disaster in the nation’s history was 

Hurricane Andrew that passed over southern Miami-Dade County in August, 1992. Like the 

1935 Labor Day hurricane, it was a Category 5, but unlike the Labor Day hurricane it passed 

over a densely populated area. Property damage exceeded $35 dollars, but because of early 

warnings and evacuation efforts the number of deaths directly related to the storm was around 

50. One of the few benefits of the storm was that it motivated the State government to demand 

stricter compliance of existing building codes, and to enact even more stringent ones. 

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Florida experiences more tornadoes per 10,000 square miles than any state in the nation, even 

exceeding the density of Oklahoma, infamous for its tornadoes. Fortunately most Florida 

tornadoes are much lower in intensity than those on the Great Plains. Many are waterspouts that 

generally are both small and weak, although there have been some large and powerful 

exceptions. The highest incidence of tornado deaths and injuries in Florida has occurred 

between Tampa and Daytona Beach. In 1966 and 1998, supercell thunderstorms that spawned 

tornadoes entered Florida in St. Petersburg, and crossed the State, exiting near Daytona Beach. 

Twelve people were killed in 1966 while 42 were killed by the 1998 storm. Property damage 

during both episodes was enormous. 

In North and Central Florida, winter fog can cause transportation problems especially late at 

night or early in the morning. In that season, relatively warm and moist air may drift in from the 

Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean and settle over cooler land. The air near the land surface 

may be chilled to the dew point, and an adiabatic fog then develops. Most of the time, the fog 

dissipates by mid-morning. On the southern half of the peninsula, fog is rare at any time of the 

year. 

 

Florida does not suffer the degree of atmospheric pollution that is experienced in California nor 

in those states with heavy industry. It has neither the topographic nor the climatic conditions that 

trap automobile emissions over California cities, and causes the infamous smog. Nor does 

Florida have the type of manufacturing that produces pollution in the industrialized portion of the 

nation, including cities like Houston, along the Gulf of Mexico. The only part of the State where 

atmospheric pollution is an issue is in the Tampa Bay area, where much of its electricity is 

produced from coal-fired generators. These generators are presently being either modified to 

burn coal more efficiently, or being replaced with generators that use natural gas. The State is 

not downwind from factories in other states that contribute acid rain bearing-particles to the 

atmosphere, and as a consequence its lakes and forests are relatively free of that source of 

pollution. 

Florida does have a pollen season. Oak pollen can be especially prevalent. There are many 

other plants, both native and exotic, which may cause allergic reactions among some people, but 

the problem is no worse than in most other states. Fortunately, ragweed is only a minor problem, 

especially in South Florida. 

 

Climate and the Economy- Since Florida is widely regarded as the “Sunshine State”, many have 

come to regard its climate as being highly suitable for the production of energy. Unfortunately, 

this is not true. Whereas solar energy is being converted by solar concentrators and collectors 

into electricity for commercial distribution in the nation’s dry southwest, long periods of cloud 

cover over Florida presently make this technology commercially infeasible. The most suitable 

location in Florida for an array of these solar concentrators would be between Miami-Dade and 

Palm Beach counties. Yet a 200-acre array of concentrators would produce enough energy to 

meet the demands of about 3,833 homes, compared to approximately 6,700 homes in southern 

Arizona and California using the same area. The home use of solar collectors to heat water 

directly from the sun was fairly common in South Florida until after World War II, when fossil 

fuels became so cheap that they fell out of favor. The rising cost of energy has renewed interest 

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in this use of the sun’s energy, and solar collectors have grown in popularity, especially for use 

in heat swimming pools during the winter. 

Florida’s long coastline might appear to be attractive for the location of wind farms, arrays of 

propeller driven turbines to generate electricity. Although they have become increasingly 

common near the California coast and on the Great Plains, neither Florida’s prevailing trade 

winds nor the daily land-sea breezes are of sufficient velocity to warrant the investment in this 

renewable energy resource. 

Until 1950 Florida had the smallest population of any southern state, in part because of its 

climate. Its heat and humidity not only were difficult to endure, but until the end of the 19th

century they were dangerous to live in, since epidemics of yellow fever and malaria were 

common. When it was incorporated into the United States, for the few who could afford a winter 

vacation it became a great place to visit, but when spring arrived they returned north. Those who 

did try to make a living there were in a constant struggle with the elements, including the 

weather, to make a success. 

By the early 20th century, diseases had been brought under control and by the 1950s the 

widespread use of air conditioners, first in homes and businesses, later in vehicles, made 

summers more bearable for the residents. Summer tourism grew to surpass that of winter, and 

has provided many economic opportunities. Millions of retirees have chosen Florida as their 

new home, and the availability of air conditioning was certainly an important factor in their 

decision to come. The demands of these retirees for both goods and services have attracted 

millions more persons. 

Some would argue that taming Florida’s brutal summers comes at an excessively high use of 

energy. Whereas the use of energy is high, it is actually less than that paid by people in the 

North to maintain a comfortable temperature within their buildings during the winter. Measured 

in heating and cooling degree-days, a statistic used to calculate the cost of maintaining a 

comfortable temperature within a building, a typical peninsular Florida community averages 

between 3,000 and 4,000 cooling and 250 to 1,000 heating degree-days in an average year. In 

the lower Great Lakes area typically there are between 6,000 and 7,000 heating and 750 to 1,200 

cooling degree-days. 

Farmers have learned to produce more efficiently within Florida’s climate. Grove owners, who 

first planted their trees too far north to escape the rare but truly devastating freezes, have 

concentrated much farther south. Those who remain in areas where freezes are common have 

planted species that bear fruit early, before most freezes occur. Winter vegetable farmers have 

adopted various means to prevent their plants from being damaged by freezes. Through use of 

chemicals, they are able to control the many pests that thrive in the State’s heat and humidity. 

Technology has made Florida’s summers more hospitable to both visit and to live in, and its 

winters more agriculturally productive. The taming of its summers ignited a population 

explosion that continues. On average, 1,000 people move to Florida each day. Today the State 

not only has the largest population in the South, but it has become the fourth largest in the nation, 

and has every expectation in the future to rank even higher. 

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Jones, Catherine Stephens, Jay F. Shriver, and James J. O’Brien (1999) “The Effect of El Niño 

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U.S. Department of Commerce (2002) Local Climatological Data 2001, Annual. Washington, 

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Files of newspapers have been of great help, in particular those of the Miami 

Herald, Orlando Sentinel, St. Petersburg Times, and Tampa Tribune. 

The Web Pages of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Climatic 

Data Center, and the Southeastern Regional Climate Center provided most of the climatological 

data. 

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