Spring Weather in Orlando Florida, United StatesDaily high temperatures increase by 13°F, from 75°F to 89°F, rarely falling below 65°F or exceeding 93°F. Daily low temperatures increase by 15°F, from 56°F to 72°F, rarely falling below 45°F or exceeding 75°F. For reference, on July 21, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Orlando typically range from 76°F to 91°F, while on January 15, the coldest day of the year, they range from 52°F to 70°F. The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average spring temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day. Pāsighāt, Arunachal Pradesh, India (8,529 miles away) and Nantou, Taiwan (8,536 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Orlando (view comparison). CloudsThe spring in Orlando experiences increasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy increasing from 39% to 49%. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 35% on May 1. The clearest day of the spring is May 1, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 65% of the time. For reference, on July 6, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 67%, while on April 30, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 65%. PrecipitationA wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Orlando, the chance of a wet day over the course of the spring is very rapidly increasing, starting the season at 24% and ending it at 45%. For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 68% on August 7, and its lowest chance is 15% on November 20. RainfallTo show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day. The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the spring in Orlando is rapidly increasing, starting the season at 2.6 inches, when it rarely exceeds 5.0 inches or falls below 0.6 inches, and ending the season at 4.5 inches, when it rarely exceeds 7.5 inches or falls below 1.8 inches. The lowest average 31-day accumulation is 2.2 inches on April 27. SunOver the course of the spring in Orlando, the length of the day is very rapidly increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 2 hours, 14 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 1 minute, 29 seconds, and weekly increase of 10 minutes, 20 seconds. The shortest day of the spring is March 1, with 11 hours, 36 minutes of daylight and the longest day is May 31, with 13 hours, 50 minutes of daylight. The latest sunrise of the spring in Orlando is 7:40 AM on March 10 and the earliest sunrise is 1 hour, 12 minutes earlier at 6:28 AM on May 31. The earliest sunset is 6:25 PM on March 1 and the latest sunset is 1 hour, 53 minutes later at 8:18 PM on May 31. Daylight saving time (DST) starts at 3:00 AM on March 10, 2024, shifting sunrise and sunset to be an hour later. For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 6:28 AM and sets 13 hours, 58 minutes later, at 8:26 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 7:14 AM and sets 10 hours, 20 minutes later, at 5:33 PM. The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation. MoonThe figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the spring of 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon. HumidityWe base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night. The chance that a given day will be muggy in Orlando is very rapidly increasing during the spring, rising from 11% to 78% over the course of the season. For reference, on July 20, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 100% of the time, while on January 30, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 7% of the time. WindThis section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages. The average hourly wind speed in Orlando is decreasing during the spring, decreasing from 9.2 miles per hour to 7.6 miles per hour over the course of the season. For reference, on March 9, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 9.4 miles per hour, while on August 3, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 5.6 miles per hour. The highest daily average wind speed during the spring is 9.4 miles per hour on March 9. The wind direction in Orlando during the spring is predominantly out of the west from March 1 to March 9 and the east from March 9 to May 31. Water TemperatureOrlando is located near a large body of water (e.g., ocean, sea, or large lake). This section reports on the wide-area average surface temperature of that water. The average surface water temperature in Orlando is rapidly increasing during the spring, rising by 10°F, from 68°F to 78°F, over the course of the season. Growing SeasonDefinitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere). While it does not do so every year, freezing temperatures are seen in Orlando over some winters. The day least likely to be in the growing season is January 13, with a 70% chance. Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F. The average accumulated growing degree days in Orlando are very rapidly increasing during the spring, increasing by 1,978°F, from 724°F to 2,702°F, over the course of the season. Solar EnergyThis section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation. The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Orlando is increasing during the spring, rising by 1.1 kWh, from 5.1 kWh to 6.2 kWh, over the course of the season. The highest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the spring is 6.8 kWh on May 1. TopographyFor the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Orlando are 28.538 deg latitude, -81.379 deg longitude, and 98 ft elevation. The topography within 2 miles of Orlando is essentially flat, with a maximum elevation change of 56 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 93 feet. Within 10 miles is essentially flat (157 feet). Within 50 miles also contains only modest variations in elevation (302 feet). The area within 2 miles of Orlando is covered by artificial surfaces (98%), within 10 miles by artificial surfaces (94%), and within 50 miles by herbaceous vegetation (32%) and artificial surfaces (24%). Data SourcesThis report illustrates the typical weather in Orlando, based on a statistical analysis of historical hourly weather reports and model reconstructions from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 2016. Temperature and Dew PointThere are 3 weather stations near enough to contribute to our estimation of the temperature and dew point in Orlando. For each station, the records are corrected for the elevation difference between that station and Orlando according to the International Standard Atmosphere , and by the relative change present in the MERRA-2 satellite-era reanalysis between the two locations. The estimated value at Orlando is computed as the weighted average of the individual contributions from each station, with weights proportional to the inverse of the distance between Orlando and a given station. The stations contributing to this reconstruction are:
To get a sense of how much these sources agree with each other, you can view a comparison of Orlando and the stations that contribute to our estimates of its temperature history and climate. Please note that each source's contribution is adjusted for elevation and the relative change present in the MERRA-2 data. Other DataAll data relating to the Sun's position (e.g., sunrise and sunset) are computed using astronomical formulas from the book, Astronomical Algorithms 2nd Edition , by Jean Meeus. All other weather data, including cloud cover, precipitation, wind speed and direction, and solar flux, come from NASA's MERRA-2 Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis . This reanalysis combines a variety of wide-area measurements in a state-of-the-art global meteorological model to reconstruct the hourly history of weather throughout the world on a 50-kilometer grid. Land Use data comes from the Global Land Cover SHARE database , published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Elevation data comes from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) , published by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Names, locations, and time zones of places and some airports come from the GeoNames Geographical Database . Time zones for airports and weather stations are provided by AskGeo.com . Maps are © OpenStreetMap contributors. DisclaimerThe information on this site is provided as is, without any assurances as to its accuracy or suitability for any purpose. Weather data is prone to errors, outages, and other defects. We assume no responsibility for any decisions made on the basis of the content presented on this site. We draw particular cautious attention to our reliance on the MERRA-2 model-based reconstructions for a number of important data series. While having the tremendous advantages of temporal and spatial completeness, these reconstructions: (1) are based on computer models that may have model-based errors, (2) are coarsely sampled on a 50 km grid and are therefore unable to reconstruct the local variations of many microclimates, and (3) have particular difficulty with the weather in some coastal areas, especially small islands. We further caution that our travel scores are only as good as the data that underpin them, that weather conditions at any given location and time are unpredictable and variable, and that the definition of the scores reflects a particular set of preferences that may not agree with those of any particular reader. Please review our full terms contained on our Terms of Service page. |