Climate Summary for Florida - April 2026

Prepared by Florida Climate Center
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL

Summary:

• Monthly mean temperatures in April were above normal in Florida.
• Monthly precipitation totals in April were below normal across northern Florida, while parts of the central and southern Peninsula received above normal rainfall.
• Widespread drought persisted during the month, with some degradation in the Panhandle and north-central regions and improvements in southeastern Florida; by the end of the month, nearly 25% of the state was in exceptional drought (D4) and another 57% was in extreme drought (D3).
• ENSO-neutral conditions currently exist in the tropical equatorial Pacific Ocean with a transition to El Niño favored during May-July 2026 (61% chance).

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

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

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

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

ENSO-Neutral Conditions / El Niño Watch.

Over the past month, the state of the tropical equatorial Pacific Ocean transitioned from a La Niña to ENSO-neutral conditions. Near-average sea surface temperatures emerged in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean, while equatorial sub-surface temperatures increased for the fifth consecutive month. ENSO-neutral conditions are favored to persist through May-June 2026 (80% chance). A transition to El Niño is likely thereafter (61% chance during May-July 2026 and near 80% during June-August 2026) due to increasing subsurface temperature anomalies and westerly wind anomalies over the western Pacific Ocean. The possible outcomes range from ENSO-neutral to a very strong El Niño event (SSTs in the Niño-3.4 region ≥ +2.0°C) during the Northern Hemisphere 2026-2027 winter.

Hazardous Weather Events in April.

According to the Local Storm Reports issued by the local National Weather Service offices serving Florida, there were 110 individual local reports of hazardous weather events recorded across the state during the month of April (see Table 3 for a breakdown by event type). Several incidents related to rip currents were reported during the month, including at least 6 injuries and 4 fatalities. Thunderstorms caused some damage and brief street flooding in portions of the state. On the 7th, a severe thunderstorm with straight line winds damaged two homes in Hialeah, and one brief tornado, rated EF0, was reported in the Palm Springs North community in Miami-Dade County on the same day. Several wildfires were reported throughout the month with ongoing extreme to exceptional drought conditions in much of the state. Among the largest wildfires reported included the Newman Dr. Fire in Collier County, the Railroad Complex Fire in Clay and Putnam Counties, the MM-45 wildfire in Broward County, and the Hwy 41 wildfire in the Everglades in Miami-Dade County. Several fires led to evacuations of nearby residential areas.  

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

Daily Record Events in April.

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

Drought-Related Impacts.

Drought conditions persisted during April, with some degradation in northern parts of the state and improvements in southeastern areas that received beneficial rainfall. By mid-month, approximately 20% of the state was in exceptional drought (D4), 51% of the state in extreme drought (D3), 22% in severe drought (D2), and 6% was in moderate drought (D1), with 1% of the state abnormally dry (D0), according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. By the end of the month, approximately 25% of the state was in exceptional drought (D4), 54% was in extreme drought (D3), 14% was in severe drought (D2), and 6% was in moderate drought (D1), with 1.3% abnormally dry (D0) (Figure 2 below).

As of April 30, the Lake Okeechobee water level was 11.67 ft. above sea level (Feet-NGVD29), which is below average for this time of year. At the first of April, the water level was 12.01 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 April departures from normal data for select Florida locations (source: NWS).

Appendix 2
Select daily record high maximum temperatures tied or broken during April (compiled from NOAA).