


Public Information Statement
Issued by NWS Melbourne, FL
Issued by NWS Melbourne, FL
714 NOUS42 KMLB 131037 PNSMLB Public Information Statement National Weather Service Melbourne FL 637 AM EDT Thu Mar 13 2025 ...Winter 2024-2025 Weather Summary Across East Central Florida... Temperatures for the meteorological 2024-2025 Winter went on a roller coaster of a ride through the season. Average monthly temperatures started off generally close to normal in December across the area, but then turned much colder into January, before finally ending up much warmer than normal in February. With the warm February balancing out the cold January, average temperature departures for the season across east central Florida all ended up close (within a degree) to their normal values. Rainfall through the season was rather variable across the region. Periods of moist onshore flow lead to greater shower coverage and near to above normal rainfall along the coast during December, with precipitation ending up below normal across much of the interior. Despite showers and isolated storms accompanying some of the cold frontal boundaries in January, drier than normal conditions largely dominated during the month. Then into February, below normal rainfall continued north of a line from Orlando to the Cape, with near to above normal rainfall near to south of this line. Overall, rainfall totals for the winter season were typically near to above normal toward the coast from Melbourne to Stuart and below normal across much of the rest of east central Florida. Temperatures... The winter season started off on the colder side, in fact the coldest temperatures for December occurred early, on the 3rd or 4th of the month as lows fell to the mid 30s to low 40s. Temperatures then generally oscillated between warm and cooler periods in December with passing fronts. Average temperatures for December ended up near to slightly below normal from Sanford northward and slightly warmer than normal from Orlando southward. However, overall these values were mostly all within a degree of normal for the month. Temperatures then trended much colder than normal into January as several strong cold fronts moved through the region. The coldest temperatures for the season were observed behind a couple of these stronger fronts, either occurring on the 9th, 10th or 25th as temps fell to the 30s to low 40s those mornings. While some locations across Lake and inland Volusia counties did fall to or just below the freezing mark, all of the primary climate sites remained above freezing this winter. Average temperatures for January were around 2 to 5 degrees below normal, and were within the top 15 coldest rankings for January at most sites. It was also the coldest January since 2010 for many sites as well. February was the exact opposite of January, with monthly average temperatures ending up much warmer than normal by 4 to 5 degrees, and within the top 15 warmest rankings for February at all sites. Much of this above normal warmth was concentrated during the first half of the month, and in fact the warmest temperatures for the season occurred on the 13th when highs reached the upper 80s. Daytona Beach reached 89 degrees that day, which not only broke their record high for the day, but also tied their warmest maximum temperature for the month and season (last set on February 1st, 1985)! With average temperatures in December generally closer to normal, and the cold January offsetting the warm February, average temperatures for the season ended up within a degree of their normal values. Similar to December, average seasonal temperatures were either near to just below normal from Sanford northward and slightly above normal from Orlando southward. Average temperature values for Winter 2024-2025 at the primary climate sites across east central Florida are as follows (rankings provided if in the top 10): - Daytona Beach had an average temperature for the season of 60.1 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 0.5 degrees below normal. - Leesburg had an average temperature for the season of 60.9 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 0.5 degrees below normal. - Sanford had an average temperature for the season of 62.1 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 0.1 degrees below normal. - Orlando had an average temperature for the season of 63.1 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 0.6 degrees above normal. - Melbourne had an average temperature for the season of 63.7 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 0.2 degrees above normal. - Vero Beach had an average temperature for the season of 65.7 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 1.2 degrees above normal. - Fort Pierce had an average temperature for the season of 65.1 degrees Fahrenheit, which was 0.9 degrees above normal. Rainfall... It was a dry start to December, but by mid to late month periods of onshore moving showers led to an increase in rainfall totals, especially along the coast. Notably, locally higher rainfall of 2 to 5 inches occurred from the 17th to 18th across portions of the Treasure Coast. Overall for the month, precipitation amounts ended up near to above normal along the coast (up to 1 to 3 inches above normal along the Treasure Coast) and typically below normal by 0.50 to 1.50 inches across the interior. It was the 7th wettest December on record for Fort Pierce and 9th wettest on record for Stuart, with monthly rainfall totals of 5.46 inches and 6.61 inches, respectively at each site. Several strong cold fronts moved through the region into January, with periods of showers and isolated storms accompanying these boundaries. Rainfall totals for the month were around 1 to 3 inches for most locations, but this was still generally below normal by 0.50 to 1.50 inches for January across much of the area. Similar to December, February also started off generally dry, but rainfall did pick up into mid to late month. The most significant rainfall event occurred from the 24th through early on the 25th, as rounds of widespread rain moved across the area. Total rainfall during this period was around a half inch or less across northern Lake and Volusia counties and 1 to 2 inches farther south across east central Florida. However, localized higher totals of 3 to 5 inches fell across the Vero Beach and northern Fort Pierce areas. Precipitation totals for February ended up near to above normal across those areas that ended up seeing more rainfall from this event, which was near to south of a line from Orlando to the Cape. In fact, Vero Beach had their 5th wettest February on record, with 6.15 inches for the month. However, north of Orlando drier than normal conditions were observed. At Leesburg, only 0.73 inches of rainfall was observed for the month, ranking as the 8th driest February on record at this site. For the 2024-2025 Winter season, totals reached as high as 8 to 15 inches across portions of the coast between Melbourne and Stuart extending slightly inland into east central portions of Osceola County. Rainfall was near to above normal across this area for the season, but across the rest of east central Florida amounts were generally below normal, ranging from 3 to 6 inches. It was the 8th driest winter on record for Leesburg and 11th driest on record at Sanford, with totals of 3.55 inches and 3.77 inches, respectively. However, at Vero Beach where 11.01 inches of rain fell through the season, it was the 11th wettest winter on record for this site. Winter 2024-2025 rainfall totals for the primary climate sites across east central Florida are as follows (ranking provided if in the top 10): - Daytona Beach received 5.22 inches of rain for the season, which was 2.19 inches below normal. - Leesburg received 3.55 inches of rain for the season, which was 3.21 inches below normal. This ranks as the 8th driest winter on record for this site, with records dating back to 1958. - Sanford received 3.77 inches of rain for the season, which was 3.08 inches below normal. - Orlando received 4.69 inches of rain for the season, which was 2.31 inches below normal. - Melbourne received 6.44 inches of rain for the season, which was 0.53 inches below normal. - Vero Beach received 11.01 inches of rain for the season, which was 3.53 inches above normal. - Fort Pierce received 10.97 inches of rain for the season, which was 3.65 inches above normal. Below is a list of observed precipitation totals and rainfall statistics for select sites across east central Florida for Winter 2024-2025: Station Winter 2024-2025 Normal Departure Percent of Rainfall Rainfall From Normal Normal Daytona Beach 5.22" 7.41" -2.19" 70% (DAB) Orlando 4.69" 7.00" -2.31" 67% (MCO) Melbourne 6.44" 6.97" -0.53" 92% (MLB) Vero Beach 11.01" 7.48" +3.53" 147% (VRB) Clermont* 4.72" 7.92" -3.20" 60% (CLRF1) Leesburg 3.55" 6.76" -3.21" 53% (LEE) DeLand* 5.49" 8.16" -2.67" 67% (DELF1) Sanford 3.77" 6.85" -3.08" 55% (SFB) Titusville* 4.64" 7.96" -3.32" 58% (TITF1) Fort Pierce 10.97" 7.32" +3.65" 150% (FPR) Stuart* 10.47" 8.83" +1.64" 119% (STRF1) *Rainfall totals for the season end around 7 AM on February 28th. For more local climate information, please visit our web page at http://weather.gov/mlb and click on the "Climate" icon toward the bottom of the page. $$ Weitlich