The year’s shortest meteorological window has closed, framing a season of extreme weather across the Sunshine State. Florida\u2019s 2026 meteorological summer felt like it would never end\u2014and the data proves it wasn’t just your imagination! Beyond just the long calendar, the weather itself was relentless, with Orlando seeing one of its warmest summer in over 130 years and Miami hitting a triple-digit 100\u00b0 mark for the first time since the 1940s.<\/p>\n
The real twist in the story, though, was the missing rain. Even though summer is usually the rainy season for the Sunshine State, almost every major city\u2014from Tallahassee down to Miami\u2014faced a significant “rain debt,” with some spots falling nearly 15 inches short of what they usually see. While Pensacola was the lucky outlier with a surplus, the rest of the state essentially experienced two different stories: a summer defined by record-breaking heat and a historic lack of water. <\/p>\n
A Heat Advisory is in effect today for northeast Florida, coastal southeast Georgia, and portions of inland southeast Georgia south of Waycross. <\/p>\n
Limit time outdoors today, stay hydrated, and stay cool! pic.twitter.com\/Cd3jGjM0sZ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NWS Jacksonville (@NWSJacksonville) August 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Over these three months, communities faced historic, blistering temperatures alongside an intense, widespread drought. Meteorologist Leslie Hudson explains that due to a rare calendar quirk where Memorial Day fell as early as possible and Labor Day as late as possible, we are actually living through a massive 106-day summer.<\/p>\n And here’s one more reason this summer really was unusually long on the calendar: Next year’s unofficial summer will be a full week shorter. Memorial Day 2027 falls May 31, while Labor Day falls Sept. 6 \u2014 giving us 99 days when both holidays are counted. The next time Memorial Day falls May 25 and Labor Day lands September 7 is 2037.<\/p>\n Tampa has seen 136 record highs vs. just 1 record low since 2020 \u2014 Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) August 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n
Miami: 129 vs. 1
Ft Myers: 112 vs. 2
This isn\u2019t noise, it\u2019s a trend. Florida\u2019s record book is being rewritten, and almost all of it is on the hot side. \ud83c\udf21\ufe0f\ud83d\udcc8 #Florida<\/a> #heat<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/NrJWCT8xWU<\/a><\/p>\n