What kind of weather does florida have

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. However, since , the number of lightning deaths has been slowly dropping despite a rising population, suggesting that lightning awareness programs are effective.

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. Thunderstorms occur most often during the summer but can occur at any time of the year.

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 Great Plains. Strong tornadoes do occasionally form in Florida, usually in conjunctions with a cold frontal passage in the winter or spring. A total of 42 people died in February from the deadliest such tornado outbreak in Central Florida, which occurred during the nighttime hours.

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. The earliest in the year a tropical cyclone has struck the sunshine state was the Groundhog Day Tropical Storm in The latest impact was from a hurricane which struck near Tampa on December 1, The strongest hurricane to strike Florida was the Labor Day Hurricane of Hurricane Easy in produced the wettest known point total from any tropical cyclone.

The record number of hurricane strikes on the state in one season is four in Hurricanes typically spawn tornadoes within their northeast quadrant. Tropical cyclones have affected Florida in every month of the year but March. Nearly one-third of the cyclones affected the state in September, and nearly three-fourths of the storms affected the state between August and October, which coincides with the peak of the hurricane season. Portions of the coastline have the lowest return period, or the frequency at which a certain intensity or category of hurricane can be expected within 86 mi km of a given location, in the country.

Monroe County was struck by 26 hurricanes since , which is the greatest total for any county in the United States.

This is followed by wildfire threat when rain dries up. Northern Florida is more susceptible to severe weather; below normal temperatures, increased number of low pressure systems in the Gulf of Mexico during the winter, and "almost always" reduces the frequency of storms and hurricanes. Long term forecasts are made based on these effects.

However, they are easily overridden, in winter, by the Arctic oscillation and North Atlantic oscillations , which can only be predicted about two weeks in advance. ENSO effects on South Florida are rather minimal during the summer months, with the exception of tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic Basin. You can also obtain historical distributions of 3 -month temperature and precipitation associated with 3 different ENSO categories - El Nino, La Nina, and Neutral events for a climate division.

For South Florida, please click on number When the wintertime NAO is in a positive phase, South Florida typically experiences near to above normal temperatures due to the jet stream being located far to the north over the Great Lakes and Northeast United States, which allows for the Atlantic subtropical high to position itself near or over the Southeastern United States.

This usually causes east and southeast winds from the warm Atlantic waters to blow across South Florida, with the subtropical high blocking the southward movement of any Arctic or Polar air masses. When the wintertime NAO is in a negative phase, South Florida usually has below normal temperatures due to the jet stream shifting farther to the south over the southeastern United States.

This jet stream configuration allows for cold air outbreaks of Arctic or Polar origin to plunge south and deep into the Southeast United States, including Florida. The Arctic Oscillation AO is a climate index of the state of the atmospheric circulation over the Arctic. It consists of a negative phase, featuring below average geopotential heights, which are also referred to as negative geopotential height anomalies , and a positive phase in which the opposite is true. In the negative phase, the polar low pressure system also known as the polar vortex over the Arctic is weaker, which results in weaker upper level winds the westerlies.

Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. By Dawn Henthorn Dawn Henthorn. TripSavvy's editorial guidelines. Share Pin Email.

Continue to 2 of 5 below. Continue to 3 of 5 below. Continue to 4 of 5 below. Continue to 5 of 5 below. Was this page helpful?

Thanks for letting us know! Tell us why! Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for TripSavvy. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data.

We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. The National Weather Service recommends steering clear of bodies of water, trees, or metallic objects, and staying indoors at least 30 minutes after hearing thunder. Find Your Favorite Beach. Gulf Coast. Atlantic Coast. Beach Camping. Places to Stay. Travel Ideas. Accessible Travel. Eco-Friendly Travel.