The climate of Florida is tempered by the fact that no part of the state is very distant from the ocean. North of Lake Okeechobee, the prevalent climate is humid subtropical, while coastal areas south of the lake (including the Florida Keys) have a true tropical climate.

The climate of the north and central parts of Florida is humid subtropical. South Florida has a tropical climate. There is a defined rainy season from May through October when air mass thundershowers that build in the heat of the day drop heavy but brief summer rainfall.

In October, the dry season sets in across much of Florida (starting early in the month in northern Florida and near the end of the month in deep southern Florida) and lasts until late April most years. Fronts from mid-latitude storms north of Florida occasionally pass through northern and central parts of the state which bring light and brief winter rainfall. Mid and late winter can become severely dry in Florida. In some years the dry season becomes quite severe and water restrictions are imposed to conserve water. While most areas of Florida do not experience any type of frozen precipitation, northern Florida can see fleeting snow or sleet a few times each decade.

The USDA Hardiness Zones for the state range from Zone 8A (10°F to 15°F) in the extreme northwestern panhandle, to Zone 11B (45°F to 50°F) in the lower Florida Keys.

The Gulf Stream running through the Florida Straits and then north of the Florida East Coast keeps temperatures moderate a few miles inland from around Stuart on the east coast to Ft. Myers on the west side of the state year-round, with few extremes in temperature. The tropical ocean current also provides warm sea surface temperatures, giving Florida beaches the warmest ocean surf waters on the United States mainland. Florida's geography also makes it vulnerable to the effects of climate change, both in the intensification of extreme weather such as intensified hurricanes as well as coastal flooding and other effects of sea level rise.

In the summer, high temperatures in the state seldom exceed 100 °F. During the late autumn and winter months, Florida has experienced occasional cold fronts that can bring high winds and relatively cooler temperatures for the entire state, with high temperatures that could remain into the 40s and 50s and lows in the 20s and 30s. Several record cold maxima have been in the 30s °F and record lows have been in the 10s.

These temperatures normally extend at most a few days at a time in the northern and central parts of Florida. Southern Florida, however, rarely encounters sub-freezing temperatures. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Florida was 109 °F, which was set on June 29, 1931, in Monticello. The coldest temperature was −2 °F, on February 13, 1899, just 25 miles away, in Tallahassee.

Wind:

Over the winter prevailing winds are out of the north across the panhandle south to near Orlando, but are variable in the rest of the state. The summer season sees generally east and southeast winds across the peninsula. During the summer months, the average wind pattern implies a surface ridge axis which normally lies across central Florida, with easterly winds from Tampa southward and southwest winds across northern Florida.

Winter:

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 degrees at Tallahassee, while daytime highs range from 62 °F at Tallahassee to 77 °F at Miami. Predominant tropical easterly winds across central and southern Florida keep temperatures warm during the winter. Occasional strong cold fronts move southward down the peninsula with freezing or near-freezing temperatures on a few nights into inland areas of central Florida every few years. A few times each decade Miami might see a winter nightfall below 45 °F. El Niño winters tend to be cooler due to increased cloud cover but tend to have fewer freezes.

Severe weather:

Florida's nickname is the "Sunshine State", but severe weather is a common occurrence in the state. Central Florida is known as the lightning capital of the United States, as it experiences more lightning strikes than anywhere else in the country.

Florida has the highest average precipitation of any state, in large part because afternoon thunderstorms are common in most of the state from late spring until early autumn. A fair day may be interrupted by a storm, only to return to sunshine an hour or so later. These thunderstorms, caused by overland collisions of moist masses of air from the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, pop up in the early afternoon and can bring heavy downpours, high winds, and sometimes, tornadoes. Florida leads the United States in tornadoes per square mile (when including waterspouts), but they do not typically reach the intensity of those in the Midwest and Great Plains. Hail often accompanies the most severe thunderstorms.

A narrow eastern part of the state including Orlando and Jacksonville receives between 2,400 and 2,800 hours of sunshine annually. The rest of the state, including Miami, receives between 2,800 and 3,200 hours annually.

Snow is very uncommon in Florida, but has occurred in every major Florida city at least once; snow does fall very occasionally in North Florida

Snow in Florida is a rare occurrence, especially on the peninsula. During the Great Blizzard of 1899, Florida experienced blizzard conditions; the Tampa Bay area had "gulf-effect" snow, similar to lake-effect snow in the Great Lakes region.[28] During the 1899 blizzard was the only time the temperature in Florida is known to have fallen below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. The most widespread snowfall in Florida history occurred on January 19, 1977, when snow fell over much of the state, with flurries as far south as Homestead. Snow flurries also fell on Miami Beach for the only time in recorded history. A hard freeze in 2003 brought "ocean-effect" snow flurries to the Atlantic coast as far south as Cape Canaveral. The 1993 Superstorm brought blizzard conditions to the panhandle, while heavy rain and tornadoes beset the peninsula. The storm is believed to have been similar in composition to a hurricane, some Gulf coast regions even seeing storm surges of six feet or more. More recently, traces of snow and sleet fell across central Florida during a hard freeze event in January 2010. There was some slight accumulation north of the I-4 corridor, mostly in the form of sleet.

Summer:

During the summer, average high temperatures range from near 95 °F in northern Florida to near 90 °F in the Keys. Maximum temperatures during the summer average in the higher 90s statewide. Heat indexes can easily reach 108°F–115°F. Relief from the heat during the summer comes in the form of afternoon and evening thunderstorm activity, late morning, and afternoon sea breezes off the relatively cooler ocean, and during the passage of a tropical cyclone. The record high temperature for the state is 109 °F at Monticello in 1931.

Fog:

Florida has a winter maximum in dense fog conditions. Unlike the remainder of the region, the maximum in Florida contains roughly half of the annual occurrences per year, on average. The annual number of heavy fog days (with visibility of .25 miles or less) has ranged from 50 in Tallahassee, to 1 in Key West, the least foggy region in the state. The two types of fog that are most common in Florida are advection and radiational. Fog can be hazardous to early morning commuters.

Thunderstorms:

Florida reports more thunderstorms than any other US state. Some places report in excess of 90 thunderstorm days per year, making Florida one of the most thundery regions outside of the tropics. Florida receives the highest density of lightning strikes within the United States. Several deaths per year are blamed on lightning, making lightning one of the deadliest weather-related phenomenon in the state The most likely targets of lightning strikes are construction workers and others who work outside, though 12 percent of the cases occurred indoors to people using electronic devices. Severe thunderstorms can sometimes produce hail, very strong straight line winds and tornadoes. Very heavy rainfall from thunderstorms can result in flash flooding.

Tornadoes:

There are more tornadoes per square mile in Florida than any other state. However, these tornadoes tend to be much weaker and short-lived than in other states like the Midwest or Deep South.

Strong tornadoes do occasionally form in Florida, usually in conjunction with a cold frontal passage in the winter or spring

While tornadoes in the Midwest are more severe, a higher rate of deaths are experienced in Florida, and Brevard County, specifically, due to higher population density and quantity of manufactured homes.

Hurricanes: see Hurricanes topic for more information – or click here