Climate Summary for Florida - August 2026

Prepared by Florida Climate Center
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL

Summary:

• Monthly average temperatures in August were near to above normal.
• Monthly precipitation totals in August were mixed with highly variable showers and thunderstorms.
• Over the past month, drought conditions improved in parts of the Peninsula and worsened along eastern coastal regions and the northern Panhandle. Near the end of August, nearly 10% of the state was in extreme drought (D3), 30% in severe drought (D2), 27% in moderate drought (D1), and 24% was abnormally dry (D0), according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
• El Niño strengthened in the tropical equatorial Pacific Ocean over the past month. There is currently a 69% chance of a historic event during the October-December timeframe that would exceed previous El Niño events dating back to 1950, but this does not guarantee typical or worse impacts.

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

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

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

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

El Niño Conditions Present in the Pacific Ocean.

El Niño continued to strengthen in the tropical equatorial Pacific Ocean over the past month. Sea surface temperature anomalies exceed +2.0°C in the eastern equatorial Pacific. During July, the Niño-3.4 index value was +1.4°C and the Niño-1+2 index value was +2.9°C; subsurface temperature anomalies reached +10.0°C at depth. The coupled ocean-atmosphere system reflected conditions consistent with a strengthening El Niño event. During the October-December timeframe, there is a 69% chance of a historic event that would exceed previous El Niño events dating back to 1950. A very strong El Niño increases the chances of experiencing impacts consistent with an El Niño, but these impacts are not a guarantee.

Hazardous Weather Events in August.

According to the Local Storm Reports issued by the local National Weather Service offices serving Florida, there were 500 individual local reports of hazardous weather events recorded across the state during the month of August (see Table 3 for a breakdown by event type). Low surface and ground water levels and elevated wildfire risk continued in South Florida throughout the month with several wildfires of varying sizes reported in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties. Lightning strikes led to 3 fatalities and injured an additional 3 people.

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

Daily Record Events in August.

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

Drought-Related Impacts.

Showers and thunderstorms led to highly variable rainfall totals with mixed drought trends that included areas of drought improvement, status quo, and degradation during the month. Streamflows in many parts of the state have remained below normal more than three months into the wet season and despite summer convection. As of August 11th, approximately 9% of the state was in extreme drought (D3), 31% in severe drought (D2), and 28% was in moderate drought (D1), with about 23% abnormally dry (D0), according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Near the end of the month, nearly 10% of the state was in extreme drought (D3), 30% was in severe drought (D2), and 27% was in moderate drought (D1), and 24% of the state was abnormally dry (D0) (Figure 3 below).

As of August 31, the Lake Okeechobee water level was 10.95 ft. above sea level (Feet-NGVD29), which is below average for this time of year and remains below the water shortage management level of about 12.20 feet. At the first of August, the water level was 10.88 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 August departures from normal data for select Florida locations (source: NWS).

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