Florida is erroneously thought of as a state with excessively high temperatures. In fact, many states have recorded maximum temperatures higher than Florida. Nearly all have also recorded lower minimum temperatures. The coldest temperature ever recorded in the state was -2 degrees F in Tallahassee in 1899; the highest was 109 degrees F in nearby Monticello in 1931.
High maximum temperatures are far more frequent in the interior than along either coast. The Atlantic Ocean modifies the coastal temperatures far more than does the Gulf of Mexico, since the state's prevailingÊwinds are from the east. From Key West through Jacksonville is a narrow coastal strip where temperatures rarely reach 90 degrees F. High temperatures are most frequent on the southwest side of the peninsula, where the warm season is long, and distance from the Atlantic Ocean is relatively great.
Cold fronts from the north are common during the winter, but they usually lose their strength rapidly before they penetrate very deeply onto the peninsula. Over 40 percent of the days in north Florida have minimum temperatures below 40 degrees F, whereas in central Florida only 20 percent of the days have minimum temperatures that low. Occasionally particularly severe cold fronts do push deeply into the state.
