Prepared by Florida Climate Center
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL

Summary:

• Monthly mean temperatures in February were above normal in the Florida Panhandle and below normal in the Peninsula.
• Monthly precipitation totals in February were mostly below normal in Florida.
• Drought conditions persisted and extreme drought (D3) expanded across Florida during the month.
• A La Niña advisory continued during the past month with a transition to ENSO-neutral expected in February-April 2026 (60% chance).

Table 1. February average temperatures and departures from normal ( ̊F) for select cities.

Figure 1. Monthly average temperature departures from normal (°F) in Florida for February 2026.

Table 2. February precipitation totals and departures from normal (inches) for selected cities.

Figure 2. A graphical depiction of the monthly rainfall departure from normal (inches) for February 2026 (courtesy of NOAA, NWS).

La Niña Advisory.

The tropical equatorial Pacific Ocean has remained in a La Niña state with below-average sea surface temperatures in the east-central region of the equatorial Pacific Ocean. Subsurface temperature anomalies increased with expanding above-average subsurface temperatures across the tropical Pacific Ocean. A transition to ENSO-neutral is favored in February-April 2026 (60% chance). ENSO-neutral is likely to continue through the Northern Hemisphere summer 2026 (56% chance in June-August 2026). The probability for an El Niño increases during late summer and beyond, with a 50-60% chance, though large uncertainty remains that far out.

Hazardous Weather Events in February.

According to the Local Storm Reports issued by the local National Weather Service offices serving Florida, there were 148 individual local reports of hazardous weather events recorded across the state during the month of February (see Table 3 for a breakdown by event type). Snow flurries were reported in the overnight hours of January 31st to February 1st in west-central and southwest Florida, including in Manatee, Sarasota, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Charlotte, and Lee Counties, but no accumulation occurred. Wildfires picked up during the month with continued dry conditions and gusty winds. During the first week of February, wildfires in Putnam County led to school and road closures. On the 2nd, bush fires broke out in Brevard County and a fire shut down a 7-mile stretch of I-95 in both directions due to low visibility but was quickly contained. On the 5th, a wildfire in Flagler County forced the evacuation of 25 residences and a building. Two wildfires broke out late during the month, one in western Broward County near I-75 and US 27 in the Everglades and another wildfire near the runway of the Homestead General Airport. The largest wildfire was the National Fire in the Big Cypress National Preserve in South Florida which had burned more than 35,000 acres, affected visibility in the region, and closed several roadways including a portion of I-75 known as Alligator Alley.

Table 3. Breakdown of storm reports submitted in Florida during the month of February (compiled from Iowa State University/Iowa Environmental Mesonet).

Daily Record Events in February.

Table 4. Summary of daily records broken or set in Florida in February 2026 (source: NCEI Daily Weather Records).

Drought-Related Impacts.

By mid-month, drought continued to affect virtually all of Florida with 99% of the state in some level of drought (D1-D4). As of February 17, approximately 67% of the state was in extreme drought (D3), 20% was in severe drought (D2), and 11% was in moderate drought (D1); about 1% of the state was abnormally dry (D0), according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. By the end of the month, approximately 67% of the state was in extreme drought (D3), 20% was in severe drought (D2), and 12% was in moderate drought (D1); no areas were considered abnormally dry (D0) (Figure 2 below).

As of February 28, the Lake Okeechobee water level was 12.27 ft. above sea level (Feet-NGVD29), which is below average for this time of year. At the first of February, the water level was 12.72 ft. above sea level.

Figure 3. A graphical depiction of the latest drought conditions in Florida according to the U.S. Drought Monitor (courtesy of the National Drought Mitigation Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln).

Agriculture-Related Impacts.

Appendix 1
Additional February departures from normal data for select Florida locations (source: NWS).

Appendix 2
Select daily record low minimum temperatures tied or broken during February (compiled from NOAA).