Climate – Fort Lauderdale / Broward County

Fort Lauderdale features a tropical climate, specifically the tropical rainforest type (with little seasonal variation in temperature). While rain does fall in winter, the majority of precipitation is received during the summer months (see climate chart below).

Summers (wet season) is from May through October and is hot, humid, and wet with average high temperatures of 86°F (30 °C) and lows of 71°F (22°C). During this period, more than half of summer days may bring afternoon or evening thunderstorms.

Winter (dry season) from November through April are warm and mostly dry with average high temperatures of 82 °F (28 °C) and lows of 67 °F (19 °C). However, the city experiences occasional cold fronts during this period, bringing temperatures in the 60s°F (16-21 °C) and lows in the 40s°F (4-10 °C), lasting only for a few days. Temperatures rarely fall lower than 40 °F (4.4 °C).

Annual average precipitation is 64.2 inches (1,630 mm), with most of it occurring during the wet season from (May 1October). However, rainfall occurs in all months, mainly as short-lived heavy afternoon thunderstorms. Fort Lauderdale has an average of 143 precipitation days and 250 sunshine days annually.

The hurricane season is between June 1 and November 30 with major hurricanes most likely to affect Florida in September and October. The most recent storms to directly affect the city were Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Wilma, both of which struck the city in 2005. Other direct hits were Hurricane Cleo in 1964, Hurricane King in 1950, and the 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane.

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