Balanced Weather CEO Alan Gerard is a lifelong Disney fan who is now a Walt Disney World Annual Passholder and frequent visitor to central Florida. For the last several years, Alan has been providing weekly updates on central Florida weather and tropical weather information to the Main Street Magic Facebook community. As a part of the Balanced Weather Substack, this weekly weather update will be available as a subscription newsletter called Fairy Dust Forecast; paid subscribers will get additional updates (at least 3 each week) and the opportunity to ask questions about weather for their upcoming trips to Walt Disney World, Universal, and other central Florida destinations. Note: Paid Balanced Weather Substack subscribers get full access to both the Balanced Weather newsletter and the Fairy Dust Forecast newsletter.

Central Florida Climate

Florida has a subtropical climate with two distinct seasons: a wet season and a dry season. The wet season generally runs from around May through September, while the dry season runs from October through April. The wet season is characterized by hot temperatures, lots of humidity, and nearly daily scattered to numerous afternoon and evening thunderstorms. While the daily storms are scattered enough that any one spot does not see rain every day, measurable rainfall does occur on about half of the days and lightning is a nearly daily threat. Heat stress is also a concern most afternoons, and anyone planning a summertime vacation in Florida needs to plan to stay hydrated and take sun protection seriously.

Meanwhile, the dry season has less humidity and much less rainfall. What rain does occur tends to be associated with cold fronts and passing storm systems. While temperatures are still generally mild during the dry season, the winter months can see occasional outbreaks of colder air. Sunscreen needs to be a part of your preparation even in the winter months.

The other weather season you need to be aware of in planning a Florida vacation is hurricane season. Hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th. Generally speaking, tropical systems early in the season tend to be of tropical storm intensity; stronger hurricanes become more likely as one approaches the peak of hurricane season in September. October can still see significant hurricane impacts, but these become increasingly rare into November.

Planning for your vacation

Here on the Balanced Weather webpage, you have access to a central Florida weather webpage for each month of the year to peruse and help plan the best time of year for your vacation based on the weather. Each monthly page shows you the normal and record temperatures for the month. It also provides charts with the daily climatological probabilities of temperatures meeting typical thresholds for the month, as well as the daily probability of measurable rainfall as well as heavier rainfall.

Below are some other links that you may find helpful in weather planning for a central Florida vacation (in addition to Balanced Weather and Fairy Dust Forecast, of course!):

National Weather Service Melbourne FL – webpage for the NWS office that services the Orlando metro area as well as the Space Coast

National Hurricane Center – important site for monitoring tropical weather conditions during the hurricane season

Florida Heat Safety – Florida Health Department website with tips for staying hydrated and safe during the summer months