Central Florida experienced an August of extremes.

The big weather headline for the month was the heat.

There were several days of heat advisories and excessive heat warnings issued for the region.

What You Need To Know

  • Aug. 2023 finished in the top three warmest on record for all of Central Florida

  • Aug. 2023 was the warmest month ever on record for Orlando and Daytona Beach

  • Temperatures were over three degrees warmer than normal for Orlando and Daytona Beach

We know it is hot in Florida during the summer, but it was abnormally hot and close to record hot temperatures for several days this past August.

Normal high during the month is around 92 degrees. But, the region felt temperatures in the mid to upper 90s for a majority.

Daytona Beach experienced 11 afternoons where the temperature hit 95 degrees or hotter. That is the most on record for Daytona Beach. The previous record was 10 set 1993.

Leesburg hit 95 degrees or hotter 16 times, the third most on record.

Dew point temperatures in the mid to upper 70s were pushing the feel-like temperatures well above 100 degrees for several weeks in a row.

Temperatures soared well into the 90s, with Orlando hitting 100 degrees on Saturday, Aug. 12 for the first time since June 19, 2015.

Sanford hit 100 degrees on Friday, Aug. 11. It was the first official 100 degree day since July 2016.

The month of August finished as the second hottest on record for Orlando and Daytona Beach.

In fact, August was so hot it was the warmest month ever on record for both cities, too.

Records for Orlando date back to 1892, and they go back to 1923 for Daytona Beach.

August is normally the second rainiest month of the year for Orlando, just behind June.

Average rainfall for the month is 7.69 inches.

RAINFALL

Most of this past August was spent dry and hot. However, thanks to a few wet days, the City Beautiful ended up with over 8 inches of rain.

Most of this rainfall came within just four days that registered more than an inch of rain.

The most rain fell at the end of the month when Idalia passed west of Central Florida. Orlando International Airport picked up over two inches of rain.

While Central Florida finished drier than normal. Sanford had the biggest rainfall deficit. The city in Seminole County finished over two inches below average.

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