ORLANDO, Fla. – With a moderate La Nina in place, once again Central Florida joined the past six years for being one of the warmest years on record.
TEMPERATURE RECAP:
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Thanks to a few fronts early in the year, most areas were able to cool below average. Even with the passage of numerous fronts, most of our reporting stations remained above the freezing point.
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Daytona Beach, Melbourne and Orlando continue a long stretch of temperatures above 32 degrees, with Leesburg and Sanford seeing their longest streak on record.
Number of days above freezing:
Daytona Beach: 1,442 days (second longest stretch)
Leesburg: 1,443 days (longest stretch)
Sanford: 1,442 days (longest stretch)
Orlando: 1,443 days (fourth longest stretch)
Melbourne: 1,112 days (fourth longest stretch)
In 2021, the averages were updated to reflect the changing climate, which takes into account the past decade (1991-2020). But even with an overall slight increase in the averages for Central Florida, 2021 remained above the “new” normal.
Officially, the average temperatures for the year were around 1-1.5 degrees above normal, with 2021 ranking in the top 10 for warmest years on record.
2021 Temperature Rankings:
Daytona Beach: 72.6 (ninth warmest)
Leesburg: 74.2 (fifth warmest)
Sanford: 74.3 (fifth warmest)
Orlando: 74.7 (fifth warmest)
Melbourne: 74.3 (eighth warmest)
RAINFALL RECAP:
When it comes to rainfall across the area, rain totals were variable throughout the rainy season. Totals for 2021 ranged between 40-60 inches, with many sites ending the year 2-5 inches below average. But there were some sites that ran more extreme in their annual rain gauges.
2021 Rainfall Rankings:
Daytona Beach: 47.37 inches (-3.88 inches below normal)
Leesburg: 50.37 inches (+6.59 inches above normal)
Sanford: 53.64 inches (+4.01 inches above normal)
Orlando: 46.19 inches (-5.26 inches below normal)
Melbourne: 40.28 inches (-10.51 inches below normal)