ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — You're right if you thought it was a lot warmer in May than normal — amid the many single-day heat records broken, the month itself has been dubbed the hottest ever recorded in the state's history, according to NOAA.
In Tampa Bay, the average high temperature for May 2024 was 83 degrees, according to data at a station located at Tampa International Airport. The historical average for May around the Tampa Bay region is about 75.8 degrees, according to the NOAA National Centers for Environment information. That's a more than 7-degree temperature difference.
Even comparing May 2023, where the entire year was deemed the hottest on record for Florida and Earth, the average was 77.8 degrees in Hillsborough County. That's a more than 5-degree jump from year to year.
It makes sense that the average high for May broke records in the Tampa Bay region — the National Weather Service recorded 20 out of May's 31 days when high temperatures reached 90 degrees or higher.
St. Pete, Tampa and Winter Haven repeatedly set new record high temperatures throughout the month, the NWS said.
Ocean temps also running hot
On May 26, the Gulf of Mexico water temperature at Clearwater Beach hit 90 degrees for the first time this year, well above the 85-degree seasonal average.
This bathwater again rose to 90.3 degrees on Memorial Day afternoon as beachgoers flocked to the shoreline for the extended holiday weekend. Looking into the past decade to 2014, only in 2023 and 2024 did the water temperature hit 90 degrees in May.
Where's the rain?
In addition to our higher-than-average temperatures, it's also been unseasonably dry. The rainy season typically gets underway around May 25 and much of the state can start banking on daily showers and storms.
The majority of May was dry across the region, with only one day recording more than a half-inch of rain, NWS climate data shows.
But earlier this week, NWS forecasters were more optimistic about rainfall as we move further into June, noting this week's weather pattern was "looking more like it."
