Although southern Florida is 400 miles closer to the tropics than northern Florida, it doesn't feel like it because of the prevailing sea breeze. Southern Florida is one of the warmest places on the United States mainland in winter.
Summers are often hot, but the high temperatures are tempered by frequent afternoon or early evening thunderstorms. Thunderstorms occur, on the average, about half of the summer days. Often these thunderstorms trigger a rapid drop of 10- to 20-degrees in temperature, resulting in comfortable weather for the remainder of the day.
The highest recorded temperature was 109 degrees at Monticello, in Florida's Panhandle, on June 29, 1931. The lowest recorded temperature was 2 degrees below zero at Tallahassee on February 13, 1899.
Click links for average temperature and precipitation by month:
- Daytona Beach
- Disney World
- Fort Lauderdale
- Fort Myers
- Gainesville
- Jacksonville
- Key West
- Lakeland
- Melbourne
- Miami from About.com's Miami Guide, Renee Chapple
- Naples
- Ocala
- Orlando
- Panama City
- Pensacola
- Sarasota
- St. Augustine
- St. Petersburg
- Tallahassee
- Tampa
- West Palm Beach
