Spring 2024 Forecast For Florida: When Will Temperatures Rise?

FLORIDA — Spring could arrive on schedule in Florida, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac’s 2024 spring weather forecast. That's good news after a few rounds of cold air that triggered warming shelter alerts and forced residents to bundle up this winter.

Meteorological spring starts March 1, and the spring equinox on March 19 is considered the official first day of the season.

The forecast, released Friday, suggests Florida will see normal weather in March. High temperatures in the Tampa Bay area average 75 degrees at the start of the month to 80 degrees on March 31, according to Weather Spark.

Most areas along the East Coast, except for Florida, are expected to see above-average temperatures in March, according to the forecast. An early spring is also expected in the eastern Ohio Valley and Great Lakes, from the Deep South up into Texas and Oklahoma, on the West Coast and Alaska.

Near- to below-normal March temperatures are expected in the rest of the country. And some areas across the mid-Atlantic, Appalachians and the Rockies could get a blast of cold air and snow in March.

The look-ahead also suggests much of the eastern U.S. will see drier than normal conditions in March, but other areas should expect more precipitation than normal. The outlook also looked forward to April and May.

April Weather Outlook

Overall, temperatures are expected to be normal in Florida.

Warm April temperatures are expected from New England to Florida and westward across the Deep South into Texas, as well as in areas north and west of the Pacific and much of Alaska and eastern Hawaii, according to the forecast. Everyone else should wait to pack away their sweaters and cool weather gear.

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Conditions will be wetter than normal in the Southeast, from southern Florida across the Deep South into the southern Plains and northward across the Heartland into Minnesota, as well as from the northern Rockies across the Pacific Northwest and over much of Alaska. Elsewhere, precipitation will be near to below normal.

May Weather Outlook

Overall, May looks to be warm across much of the eastern U.S., including the South and East Coast. The forecast also expects a wet May with wetter than normal rainfall.

Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook

The Atlantic hurricane season gets underway on June 1, although May storms have become more common in recent years. The almanac's forecast said the strong El Niño that has been in place in recent months should not be a factor by late spring and could switch to a La Niña system by later in the summer. This would lead to the potential for an active season in the Atlantic.

"Our main area of concern will be in the Gulf Coast states, where we’re watching for a hurricane to strike Florida or the Southeast in late August and along the Gulf Coast in early July and early September," the publication said. "There will also be the potential for a tropical storm to hit parts of Texas and the Deep South on a couple of occasions from July to September."