ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — We don't need to tell you the Tampa Bay area has been hot. So hot in fact, summer 2023 was the hottest ever recorded in Florida, according to data from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
However, starting in mid-June, our average temperature is historically supposed to be around 91 degrees.
With the scorching temperatures sticking around, you're probably wondering when we can start to see some relief. And it is coming, even if it won't be all that noticeable for a while.
Starting on Sept. 15, the average temperature is supposed to drop from 91 degrees to 90 degrees. While it may not sound like a big change, it's just the start of a steady drop in temperature that kicks off around the time of meteorological fall, which officially started on Sept. 1.
But don't get too excited yet — 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.
This could all be slightly different, however, depending on what goes on with El Niño. Generally, the pattern for El Niño is above-average temperatures.
According to the latest forecast from the Climate Prediction Center, the Tampa Bay area has a 42 percent chance for above-normal temperatures and only a 25 percent chance for below-normal temperatures this fall.
But 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, cooler temperatures. November is the first month since March that average highs fall back into the 70s! Average highs drop from 82 degrees at the start to 76 degrees at the end of November.
And the driest months of the year are still ahead. August is typically 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.
10 Tampa Bay meteorologist Tyler Moore contributed to this report.