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Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Melbourne FL
508 PM EDT Thu Sep 12 2024

...Summer 2024 Was Much Warmer Than Normal Across East Central
Florida with Varying Rainfall Totals for the Season...

Warmer than normal conditions prevailed through the summer across
east central Florida, with June and July ranking within the top 10
warmest at at all primary climate sites, and within the top 15
warmest for August. Numerous daily high and warm minimum temperature
records were set through the season, and seasonal average
temperature departures ended up around 1 to 2 degrees above normal.
This ranked Summer 2024 within the top 5 warmest on record at most
sites, with the exception of Melbourne where it was the 8th warmest
summer on record.

The season started off drier than normal, but a surge in tropical
moisture across the area toward June 10th finally kicked of the wet
season. Daily scattered to at time numerous showers and storms in
the afternoon and evening followed for much of the rest of the
summer, and rainfall from Hurricane Debby in early August helped
slightly boost precipitation amounts across east central Florida.
However, due to the more scattered coverage of showers and storms,
rainfall totals varied across the area. Greatest coverage of this
activity often focused across the interior during the season, which
led to drier than normal conditions for the summer along the coast,
especially from Vero Beach northward to Daytona Beach. Across inland
locations there were larger areas that had near to above normal
rainfall for the season.

Temperatures...

Drier air across the area to start the season led to some of the
coolest temperatures for Summer 2024 to occur across the region
during early June, from around the 2nd to 4th, with lows in the
upper 60s. Interestingly, the hottest temperatures for Summer 2024
for many locations, especially the interior, followed just a few
days later as heat and humidity increased across Florida. From the
6th through the 10th of June, maximum temperatures reached as high
as the upper 90s, and Sanford made it into the triple digits, with a
high of 101 degrees on the 6th. Some of these values tied or broke
daily record highs during this period, and these certainly were not
the last warm temperature records to occur during the season.
Several record warm minimum and high temperature records were set or
tied each month through the summer. Of note, June, July and August
had at least one site that tied or set their warmest minimum
temperature on record for the month. In fact, on August 7th, muggy
and warm overnight conditions kept lows in the low 80s at Orlando,
Leesburg and Sanford, which not only set or tied for their warmest
lows on record for August, but also for the season at Leesburg and
Sanford. For Sanford, the low of 83 degrees that day was actually
the warmest minimum temperature ever on record for this site,
breaking their previous record of 81 degrees last set on August
10th, 2023.

With the heat prevailing through the season, each month ranked among
the warmest on record. All primary climate sites across east central
Florida had monthly average temperatures that ranked within the top
10 warmest on record for both June and July, ranging between 1 to 3
degrees warmer than normal each month. Notably, Orlando actually had
their warmest July on record, breaking the previous record held by
July 2016. While temperature departures were not quite as high in
August, ending up roughly around a half of a degree to 2 degrees
above normal, the month still ended up ranking within the top 15
warmest on record for August at all sites. The unrelenting heat led
to seasonal average temperature values that were around 1 to 2
degrees above normal, ranking Summer 2024 within the top 5 warmest
at most sites, except at Melbourne where it ranked as 8th warmest.
It was the 2nd warmest summer on record at Daytona Beach and
Orlando, 3rd warmest at Vero Beach and Leesburg (tying 2016), and
4th warmest at Sanford and Fort Pierce (tying 1932).


Average temperature values for Summer 2024 at the primary climate
sites across east central Florida are as follows (rankings provided
if in the top 10):

- Daytona Beach had an average temperature for the season of 83.4
degrees Fahrenheit, which was 2.1 degrees above normal. This ranks
as the 2nd warmest Summer on record for this site, with records
dating back to 1923.

- Leesburg had an average temperature for the season of 84.3 degrees
Fahrenheit, which was 1.6 degrees above normal. This ties the Summer
of 2016 as the 3rd warmest Summer on record for this site, with
records dating back to 1958.

- Sanford had an average temperature for the season of 84.1 degrees
Fahrenheit, which was 1.1 degrees above normal. This ranks as the
4th warmest Summer on record for this site, with records dating back
to 1948.

- Orlando had an average temperature for the season of 84.4 degrees
Fahrenheit, which was 2.2 degrees above normal. This ranks as the
2nd warmest Summer on record for this site, with records dating back
to 1892.

- Melbourne had an average temperature for the season of 83.3
degrees Fahrenheit, which was 1.6 degrees above normal. This ranks
as the 8th warmest Summer on record for this site, with records
dating back to 1937.

- Vero Beach had an average temperature for the season of 82.9
degrees Fahrenheit, which was 1.4 degrees above normal. This ranks
as the 3rd warmest Summer on record for this site, with records
dating back to 1942.

- Fort Pierce had an average temperature for the season of 82.7
degrees Fahrenheit, which was 1.7 degrees above normal. This ties
the Summer of 1932 as the 4th warmest Summer on record for this
site, with records dating back to 1901.


Rainfall...

Drier conditions lingered into the beginning of the summer, and it
wasnt until the 10th of June when a front stalled north of the area
and deep tropical moisture moved northward into the region that the
wet season finally began across east central Florida. Rounds of
heavier rainfall followed for a few days, with totals as high as 4
to 8 inches occurring across extreme southern Osceola County,
Okeechobee County, the southern Treasure Coast and east of the
Orlando metro area through northern Brevard County. Even with
scattered to at times numerous showers and storms following on a
more daily basis afterwards, this heavy rainfall event from the 10th
through the 13th contributed significantly to June precipitation
totals. It was across the previously mentioned areas where the
higher amounts occurred, that rainfall ended up above normal for
June, with drier than normal conditions elsewhere.

Sea breeze generated showers and storms continued into July on most
days largely during the afternoon and evening hours, but greatest
coverage during the month typically focused across the interior.
Precipitation totals for July were highest, and ended up near to
above normal, near to northwest of the I-4 corridor, with mostly
drier than normal conditions across much of the rest of the region,
especially along the coast. Outer rainbands from Hurricane Debby
brought more widespread coverage of rainfall to the area early in
August, with highest totals around 4 to 7 inches across Lake County
and 1 to 4 inches across the rest of east central Florida. An
additional increase in rainfall occurred with a stalling front north
of the region during the latter half of the month, with an increase
in showers and storms producing rainfall amount as high as 2 to 4
inches, locally up to 5 to 7 inches across Orange, Seminole,
northern Osceola and Brevard counties from the 20th through the
25th. It was across these areas, as well as Lake County where
heaviest rainfall from Debby occurred, that precipitation for August
was near to above normal. Elsewhere, mostly drier than normal
conditions occurred for the last month of the summer.

Seasonal rainfall totals varied quite a bit across the region due to
the scattered coverage and periods of locally heavier rainfall from
daily showers and storms. Overall, rainfall for the season was
mostly near to above normal over larger portions of the interior,
including Orange, Seminole, Lake and inland Volusia counties, as
well as eastern Okeechobee County and inland portions of the
Treasure Coast. Rainfall amounts were around 20 to 28 inches across
these areas, with some locally higher totals up to around 30 inches
over northwest Lake and western Orange counties. Interestingly
though, the inland primary climate sites at the airports of
Leesburg, Sanford and Orlando all had totals that came in lower,
around 17 to 20 inches, which were around 2 to 4 inches below normal
for the season. The driest locations were along the coast,
especially from around Vero Beach northward to Daytona Beach, where
summer rainfall totals were around 10 to 15 inches. Daytona Beach
had their 9th driest summer on record, with a total of 11.02 inches,
and Melbourne had their 11th driest summer on record with 11.28
inches.


Summer 2024 rainfall totals for the primary climate sites across
east central Florida are as follows (ranking provided if in the top
10):

- Daytona Beach received 11.02 inches of rain for the season, which
was 8.51 inches below normal. This ranks as the 9th driest Summer on
record for this site, with records dating back to 1923.

- Leesburg received 16.99 inches of rain for the season, which was
2.50 inches below normal.

- Sanford received 19.68 inches of rain for the season, which was
2.57 inches below normal.

- Orlando received 18.95 inches of rain for the season, which was
4.25 inches below normal.

- Melbourne received 11.28 inches of rain for the season, which was
8.99 inches below normal.

- Vero Beach received 14.08 inches of rain for the season, which was
5.71 inches below normal.

- Fort Pierce received 21.71 inches of rain for the season, which
was 2.23 inches above normal.


Below is a list of observed precipitation totals and rainfall
statistics for select sites across east central Florida for Summer
2024:

Station        Summer 2024      Normal      Departure    Percent of
                Rainfall       Rainfall    From Normal     Normal

Daytona Beach     11.02"        19.53"       -8.51"          56%
(DAB)
Orlando           18.95"        23.20"       -4.25"          82%
(MCO)
Melbourne         11.28"        20.27"       -8.99"          56%
(MLB)
Vero Beach        14.08"        19.79"       -5.71"          71%
(VRB)
Leesburg          16.99"        19.49"       -2.50"          87%
(LEE)
DeLand*           23.91"        23.95"       -0.04"         100%
(DELF1)
Sanford           19.68"        22.25"       -2.57"          88%
(SFB)
Titusville*       24.69"        22.44"       +2.25"         110%
(TITF1)
Fort Pierce       21.71"        19.48"       +2.23"         111%
(FPR)
Stuart*           18.09"        22.01"       -3.92"          82%
(STRF1)

*Rainfall totals for the season end around 7 AM on August 31st.

For more local climate information, please visit our web page at
http://weather.gov/mlb and click on the "Climate" icon toward the
bottom of the page.

$$


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