ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Since mid-June, the average high has been stuck at 91 degrees, however, that changed today. It might not sound like much of a change, but our average high in Tampa just dropped to 90 degrees!
This is just the start of a steady drop in temperatures for the rest of the year. You won't feel much of a change for the rest of September with average highs only falling another degree by the end of the month.
The cooling trend really starts to pick up in October. In fact, it is the month that we experience our largest drop in average temperatures — falling from an average of 89 degrees at the beginning of the month to 82 degrees at the end of the month.
The last month of fall brings in, you guessed it, more cooler temperatures. November is the first month that average highs fall back into the 70s since March! Average highs drop from 82 degrees at the start to 76 degrees at the end of November.
What about the rainy season?
The average daily rainfall has started to drop, too! The peak of the rainy season was in mid-August when Tampa averaged over 0.30" of rain per day. As of today, that number is down to 0.21" of rain per day.
And the driest months of the year are still ahead. As we mentioned before, August is the wettest month in Tampa with more than 9 inches of rain on average. September can still be wet with an average of around 6 inches of rain.
The water faucet really shuts off moving into October and November which, on average, are the driest two months of the year. The rainy season officially ends on Oct. 10, but there can be high rain variability due to tropical systems. October averages 2.34" of rain and only 1.40" of rain in November.
Overall, we have made it past the peak of the summer heat and rainy season. Just a few more weeks to go until we can start talking about cold front, drier air and lower rain chances!