ORLANDO, Fla. — September 2018 goes down in the books as the warmest and one of the driest on record for most of Central Florida.
- September has been warmest on record for Central Fla.
- October transition month into dry, cooler season
- Dry season for Central Fla. begins in middle of month
- RELATED: Weather Blog: Fall weather preview
Our temperatures were 2 degrees to 3 degrees warmer than average for the month.
This September is Daytona Beach’s warmest on record with an average temperature of 82.6 degrees, and Daytona Beach hit four record highs.
Sanford set six record highs. It is also Sanford’s warmest September with an average temperature of 84 degrees.
Melbourne set one record high and a few record warm low temperatures. This September goes down as Melbourne’s warmest with an average temperature of 83.6 degrees.
Orlando did not break record high temperatures, but it is the third warmest September for the City Beautiful.
One of the reasons why it was so hot this past month is because there was less rain to cool us down!
Daytona Beach went more than 5.5” drier than average with only 1.44” of rain. This makes it the second driest September.
Melbourne only picked up 1.63” of rain. It is also the second driest.
Orlando went more than 4” drier than average making it the fifth driest on record.
Sanford picked up the most rain with 2.59”, however, that is still 3.59” drier than normal. It goes down as the seventh driest in Sanford.
Here’s the total rainfall from the start of the year through September 30.
ORLANDO
2018: 40.30” Departure: -2.37”
MELBOURNE
2018: 32.36” Departure: -9.13”
DAYTONA BEACH
2018: 50.06” Departure: +9.97”
SANFORD
2018: 39.25” Departure: -3.53”
**Records for Orlando go back to 1892, 1923 in Daytona Beach, 1948 in Sanford and 1937 in Melbourne
October Preview
October is our transition month in Central Florida into the dry and cooler season.
Climatologically, the dry season in Central Florida begins during the middle of the month.
In Orlando, Daytona Beach and Sanford the dry season “begins” October 15 while in Melbourne it technically begins on October 19. These dates are generally when the first cold front moves through Central Florida and brings relief from the heat and humidity.
October is also when the temperatures are mostly likely to dip below 60 degrees for the first time.
This signifies the start of the cool season. The climatological dates for cool season are October 16 for Daytona Beach and Sanford. In Orlando it is October 19, and in Melbourne it is October 22.
Of course, the weather doesn’t operate on a calendar and these changes fluctuate from year-to-year, but this is a general time frame of when these transitions take place across Central Florida.
Our daily temperatures do start to cool significantly during the month of October. For example, the average high in Orlando starts out at 88 degrees, and by October 31, the average afternoon temperature drops to 82 degrees. Overnight low temperatures start out at 70 degrees and they then tumble back to 62 degrees by Halloween.
OCTOBER’S AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND RAINFALL BREAKDOWN
ORLANDO
October 1: October 15: October 31:
High: 88° High: 85° High: 82°
Low: 70° Low: 67° Low: 62°
Average Rainfall: 3.31”
DAYTONA BEACH
October 1: October 15: October 31:
High: 85° High: 82° High: 79°
Low: 70° Low: 66° Low: 61°
Average Rainfall: 4.20”
MELBOURNE
October 1: October 15: October 31:
High: 87° High: 84° High: 81°
Low: 72° Low: 68° Low: 64°
Average Rainfall: 5.06”
SANFORD
October 1: October 15: October 31:
High: 88° High: 85° High: 81°
Low: 70° Low: 67° Low: 62°
Average Rainfall: 3.67”
