Pensacola, Florida climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Pensacola's normal year runs from 44°F January nights to 92°F July afternoons, with 68.3 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 20.8°C, January lows of 7°C, July highs of 33°C, 1,735 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationPensacola Regional Airport
- Station IDUSW00013899
- Location30.48°N 87.19°W
- Elevation112 ft (34 m)
- From the center3 miles
- Population53,898
On October 22, the normal high in Pensacola is 79°F and the normal low 59°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 22%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Pensacola.
- Jan 63° 44°
- Feb 66° 47°
- Mar 72° 53°
- Apr 78° 59°
- May 85° 67°
- Jun 90° 74°
- Jul 92° 75°
- Aug 91° 75°
- Sep 89° 72°
- Oct 81° 62°
- Nov 72° 51°
- Dec 65° 46°
Each month: normal high (large) and low, °F. Fill: the month's normal mean, colder blue to hotter red.
What is the weather like in Pensacola each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 92°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 44°F. The most precipitation falls in July (7.89 in), the least in May (3.90 in).
Each month has its own page with the day-by-day normals, the month's records and its recent years:
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. | Wet days | 90°F days | Freezing nights | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63°F | 44°F | 53.2°F | 5.03 | 10 | <1 | 5 | 10 h 20 min |
| February | 66°F | 47°F | 56.8°F | 4.77 | 9 | <1 | 2 | 11 h 10 min |
| March | 72°F | 53°F | 62.3°F | 5.25 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 12 h |
| April | 78°F | 59°F | 68.3°F | 5.52 | 7 | <1 | <1 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 85°F | 67°F | 76.0°F | 3.90 | 8 | 4 | <1 | 13 h 40 min |
| June | 90°F | 74°F | 81.7°F | 7.32 | 12 | 14 | <1 | 14 h 10 min |
| July | 92°F | 75°F | 83.5°F | 7.89 | 15 | 20 | <1 | 14 h |
| August | 91°F | 75°F | 83.0°F | 7.50 | 15 | 19 | <1 | 13 h 20 min |
| September | 89°F | 72°F | 80.0°F | 6.61 | 9 | 10 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 81°F | 62°F | 71.3°F | 4.70 | 6 | 1 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 72°F | 51°F | 61.4°F | 4.42 | 7 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 40 min |
| December | 65°F | 46°F | 55.5°F | 5.40 | 10 | <1 | 3 | 10 h 10 min |
| Year (annual) | 79°F | 60°F | 69.4°F | 68.31 | 115 | 68 | 11 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 17°C | 7°C | 11.8°C | 128 mm |
| February | 19°C | 8°C | 13.8°C | 121 mm |
| March | 22°C | 12°C | 16.8°C | 133 mm |
| April | 25°C | 15°C | 20.2°C | 140 mm |
| May | 30°C | 19°C | 24.4°C | 99 mm |
| June | 32°C | 23°C | 27.6°C | 186 mm |
| July | 33°C | 24°C | 28.6°C | 200 mm |
| August | 33°C | 24°C | 28.3°C | 191 mm |
| September | 31°C | 22°C | 26.7°C | 168 mm |
| October | 27°C | 16°C | 21.8°C | 119 mm |
| November | 22°C | 11°C | 16.3°C | 112 mm |
| December | 18°C | 8°C | 13.1°C | 137 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013899; annual normals. Wet days: 0.01 inch or more; 90°F days and freezing nights: NOAA's day counts. Daylight: sunrise to sunset on the 15th, computed from the latitude.
When is the best weather to visit Pensacola?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in February, March, April, October, November and December. Of those, October has the fewest days with rain (6).
That is a measurement, not a recommendation: it counts the months whose normal afternoon high sits between 65°F and 85°F, where a light layer is enough by day.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013899.
When is the last frost in Pensacola?
In Pensacola, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after February 14 in half of years and after March 11 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before December 9 in half of years and before November 17 in one year in ten.
Frost-free in half of yearsFrost in 1 to 9 years out of 10Frost most years
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- February 141 year in 10 after March 11; 9 in 10 after January 21
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- December 91 year in 10 before November 17; 9 in 10 before January 10
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 301 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 334 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 31 in half of springs and before January 1 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Pensacola in zone 9a across its 4 ZIP code areas (9a in 32504, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Pensacola's NOAA station is in zone 9a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 24°F (30 complete years).
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Florida · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00013899; USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; the station zone: ACIS daily lows, 1991-2020. A 10% date means one year in ten has a frost after it in spring or before it in autumn.
What hardiness zone is each Pensacola ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Pensacola's 4 ZIP code areas are all in zone 9a. Each ZIP's frost dates are in the frost tool.
Source: USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, ZIP listings: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed October 8, 2026; ZIP areas in the place: Census Bureau 2020 ZCTA-to-place relationship file. A ZIP area counts when at least a tenth of its land (and 0.5 km²) lies in the place.
How hot and how cold does it get in Pensacola?
In a normal year in Pensacola, 68 days a year reach 90°F (1 of them 100°F or more), 11 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 115 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 68a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 11a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 115a normal year
The highest temperature in Pensacola's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1879) is 106°F, on July 14, 1980; the lowest is 5°F, on January 21, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1953, with 93.32 in; the snowiest season is 2024–25, with 8.9 inches.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00013899; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record PNSthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Pensacola, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 73°F. The muggiest month is July, with an average dew point of 74°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in January (43°F). March is the windiest month (9.0 mph on average), and September has the most clear or nearly clear hours (72%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43°F | 70% | 53% | 8.4 mph | 58% | 29% |
| February | 48°F | 69% | 52% | 9.0 mph | 56% | 27% |
| March | 55°F | 72% | 56% | 9.0 mph | 60% | 21% |
| April | 61°F | 72% | 56% | 8.8 mph | 64% | 14% |
| May | 69°F | 74% | 59% | 7.9 mph | 63% | 7% |
| June | 73°F | 75% | 62% | 6.7 mph | 67% | 6% |
| July | 74°F | 78% | 66% | 6.2 mph | 66% | 5% |
| August | 72°F | 76% | 62% | 6.7 mph | 68% | 7% |
| September | 65°F | 71% | 55% | 7.2 mph | 72% | 10% |
| October | 55°F | 71% | 52% | 7.6 mph | 70% | 13% |
| November | 48°F | 72% | 55% | 7.7 mph | 67% | 17% |
| December | 44°F | 74% | 58% | 8.3 mph | 58% | 27% |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00013899. Monthly averages of all hours; afternoon humidity at 3 p.m. local standard time; sky as the share of hours NOAA's observations rate clear or few clouds (a dash where NOAA publishes no sky value).
How sunny is Pensacola?
Over a year 81% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Pensacola, 4.9 kWh per square metre a day. May is the sunniest month (86%) and February the cloudiest (73%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 111th (with 13 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 76% | 3.1 |
| February | 73% | 3.7 |
| March | 80% | 5.0 |
| April | 83% | 6.0 |
| May | 86% | 6.7 |
| June | 82% | 6.4 |
| July | 81% | 6.0 |
| August | 80% | 5.6 |
| September | 84% | 5.3 |
| October | 85% | 4.5 |
| November | 83% | 3.6 |
| December | 73% | 2.7 |
Source: NASA POWER solar climatology, 2001-2020 (CERES SYN1deg). Satellite-based, for the 1-degree cell (about 100 km across) around the station, so it describes the area rather than the airport.
How much heating and cooling does Pensacola need?
A normal year in Pensacola brings 1,304 heating degree days, 76% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 2,944 cooling degree days, 3.2 times the median (908). Two months need 300 or more heating degree days, a monthly mean of about 55°F or colder. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 7,282 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 377 | 11 |
| February | 248 | 19 |
| March | 139 | 57 |
| April | 35 | 134 |
| May | 1 | 342 |
| June | 0 | 502 |
| July | 0 | 572 |
| August | 0 | 558 |
| September | 0 | 450 |
| October | 27 | 224 |
| November | 162 | 54 |
| December | 315 | 20 |
| Year (annual) | 1,304 | 2,944 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00013899. A degree day is one degree of a day's mean temperature below 65°F (heating) or above it (cooling); utilities use them to estimate energy use.
Has Pensacola been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 69.5°F, 0.1°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 69.4°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 70.0°F | +0.6°F | 88.43 |
| 2022 | 70.5°F | +1.1°F | 69.07 |
| 2023 | 72.0°F | +2.6°F | 59.19 |
| 2024 | 70.0°F | +0.6°F | 64.60 |
| 2025 | 69.5°F | +0.1°F | 60.68 |
Over 135 complete years from 1880 to 2025, the station's annual mean temperature rose at a fitted 1.4°F per century (+0.08°C per decade). A fitted rate summarizes the whole record; single years swing well above and below it.
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00013899; trend: NOAA GHCN-Monthly v4. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Pensacola's climate compare?
Pensacola is warmer than 25 of the other 105 places with their own NOAA record in Florida, and wetter than 93. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 69.4°F is warmer than 94%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Pensacola is Cfa: temperate, no dry season, hot summer. What the classes mean.
Places with the most similar year elsewhere
Measured month by month on the normal high, low and precipitation, among places of 20,000 or more people in other states:
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for every station PlainClimate covers. Similarity: the root-mean-square difference of the 36 monthly figures, precipitation weighted so an inch counts like 6°F.
Which places near Pensacola share this climate record?
13 places have no NOAA station with 1991-2020 normals of their own, and this station is the nearest full record. A place's own climate can differ from these figures, by several degrees where it sits much higher or lower than the station, nearer the coast, or inside a large city's heat; for the larger places the next nearest records are named with their yearly mean, so the spread around them is visible, and places of 50,000 or more have their own page with NOAA's gridded normals.
- Bellview, FL25,051 people · 7 mi W
- Brent, FL23,441 people · 4 mi W
- West Pensacola, FL20,679 people · 6 mi SW
- Myrtle Grove, FL16,637 people · 8 mi SW
- Warrington, FL15,935 people · 9 mi SW
- Orange Beach, AL8,599 people · 27 mi SW
- Gulf Breeze, FL6,955 people · 8 mi S
- Pensacola Station, FL4,993 people · 12 mi SW
- Goulding, FL3,448 people · 4 mi SW
- Oriole Beach, FL2,146 people · 9 mi SE
- Lillian, AL1,889 people · 15 mi W
- Perdido Beach, AL584 people · 21 mi SW
- Garcon Point, FL581 people · 6 mi E
Source: Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer (place centers) and Vintage 2024 population estimates. Distance and direction from the station to each place's center.
What do Pensacola's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Pensacola. This page uses Pensacola Regional Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From the center | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensacola Forest Sherman Naval Air Station USW00003855 | 10 mi SW | 28 ft | 67.5°F | 42°F | 89°F | 57.6 | 0 | February 28 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Pensacola's climate
What is the coldest month in Pensacola?
January, with a normal high of 63°F and a normal low of 44°F. The warmest is July (92°F by day, 75°F at night).
Does it snow in Pensacola?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Pensacola's NOAA station; Pensacola's own co-op station Pensacola Forest Sherman Naval Air Station records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Pensacola?
July, with 7.89 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is May with 3.90 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Pensacola in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Pensacola in zone 9a across its 4 ZIP code areas (9a in 32504, the largest). By the same method at Pensacola's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 24°F (30 years, 1991-2020): zone 9a.
How late can frost come in Pensacola?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after February 14; in one year in ten it comes after March 11. Waiting until March 11 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Pensacola in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Florida climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- Ferry Pass, FL4 miles from this station, 68.6°F a year
- Chactaw NOLF Milton, FL14 miles from this station, 68.1°F a year
- Whiting Field Naval Air Station South, FL19 miles from this station, 69.2°F a year
- Whiting Field Naval Air Station, FL19 miles from this station, 66.6°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made