Sanford, Florida climate: Normal weather by month, frost dates and records
Sanford's normal year runs from 50°F January nights to 93°F July afternoons, with 49.6 inches of precipitation a year. (NOAA 1991-2020 normals)
In metric: a yearly mean of 22.9°C, January lows of 10°C, July highs of 34°C, 1,261 mm of precipitation a year.
- NOAA stationOrlando Sanford Airport
- Station IDUSW00012854
- Location28.78°N 81.24°W
- Elevation55 ft (17 m)
- Population66,919
On October 23, the normal high in Sanford is 83°F and the normal low 64°F, and the chance of measurable rain or snow is 31%.
Normals describe a typical year at the station, not a forecast. The National Weather Service forecast for Sanford.
- Jan 71° 50°
- Feb 74° 52°
- Mar 78° 56°
- Apr 83° 61°
- May 89° 67°
- Jun 91° 73°
- Jul 93° 74°
- Aug 93° 75°
- Sep 90° 73°
- Oct 85° 67°
- Nov 78° 58°
- Dec 73° 53°
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 Sanford each month?
July is the warmest month, with normal highs of 93°F; January the coldest, with normal lows of 50°F. The most precipitation falls in June (8.19 in), the least in November (1.88 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 | 71°F | 50°F | 60.4°F | 2.36 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 30 min |
| February | 74°F | 52°F | 63.1°F | 2.25 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 11 h 10 min |
| March | 78°F | 56°F | 67.1°F | 2.85 | 8 | 1 | <1 | 12 h |
| April | 83°F | 61°F | 72.3°F | 2.35 | 7 | 4 | <1 | 12 h 50 min |
| May | 89°F | 67°F | 77.7°F | 3.31 | 8 | 14 | <1 | 13 h 30 min |
| June | 91°F | 73°F | 81.9°F | 8.19 | 17 | 21 | <1 | 14 h |
| July | 93°F | 74°F | 83.6°F | 7.29 | 17 | 26 | <1 | 13 h 50 min |
| August | 93°F | 75°F | 83.6°F | 6.77 | 17 | 26 | <1 | 13 h 10 min |
| September | 90°F | 73°F | 81.4°F | 6.24 | 16 | 18 | <1 | 12 h 20 min |
| October | 85°F | 67°F | 75.5°F | 3.90 | 10 | 5 | <1 | 11 h 30 min |
| November | 78°F | 58°F | 68.2°F | 1.88 | 8 | <1 | <1 | 10 h 40 min |
| December | 73°F | 53°F | 63.1°F | 2.24 | 8 | <1 | 1 | 10 h 20 min |
| Year (annual) | 83°F | 63°F | 73.2°F | 49.63 | 133 | 115 | 2 |
The same normals in °C and millimetres
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 22°C | 10°C | 15.8°C | 60 mm |
| February | 23°C | 11°C | 17.3°C | 57 mm |
| March | 26°C | 13°C | 19.5°C | 72 mm |
| April | 29°C | 16°C | 22.4°C | 60 mm |
| May | 31°C | 19°C | 25.4°C | 84 mm |
| June | 33°C | 23°C | 27.7°C | 208 mm |
| July | 34°C | 24°C | 28.7°C | 185 mm |
| August | 34°C | 24°C | 28.7°C | 172 mm |
| September | 32°C | 23°C | 27.4°C | 158 mm |
| October | 29°C | 19°C | 24.2°C | 99 mm |
| November | 26°C | 15°C | 20.1°C | 48 mm |
| December | 23°C | 12°C | 17.3°C | 57 mm |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00012854; 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 Sanford?
Normal highs sit between 65°F and 85°F in January, February, March, April, October, November and December. Of those, April has the fewest days with rain (7).
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 USW00012854.
When is the last frost in Sanford?
In Sanford, the last spring frost (32°F) comes after January 24 in half of years and after February 23 in one year in ten; the first autumn frost comes before January 9 in half of years and before December 15 in one year in ten. A night at 32°F or colder comes at all in 64% of years here (NOAA).
- Last spring frost, half of years after
- January 241 year in 10 after February 23; 9 in 10 after December 29
- First autumn frost, half of years before
- January 91 year in 10 before December 15; 9 in 10 before February 6
NOAA puts the median frost-free season at 352 days, and the season without a hard freeze (28°F) at 365 days.
A hard freeze (28°F) comes after January 14 in half of springs and before January 11 in half of autumns.
The USDA's 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Sanford in zone 9b across its 2 ZIP code areas (9b in 32773, the largest). By the map's own method, the average of each year's coldest night over 1991-2020, Sanford's NOAA station is in zone 10a: the coldest night of a typical year reaches 30°F (21 complete years); the map interpolates between stations and terrain, so the station and the ZIP area can differ by half a zone.
Frost dates for every NOAA station in Florida · Frost dates by ZIP code
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals (frost probabilities), station USW00012854; 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 Sanford ZIP code in?
The USDA's 2023 map gives each ZIP code area one zone. Sanford's 2 ZIP code areas are all in zone 9b. 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 Sanford?
In a normal year in Sanford, 115 days a year reach 90°F, 2 nights fall to 32°F or colder and 133 days bring measurable precipitation.
- Days at 90°F or more
- 115a normal year
- Days at 100°F or more
- fewer than 1a normal year
- Nights at 32°F or colder
- 2a normal year
- Days that stay below freezing
- fewer than 1high of 32°F or less
- Days with 0.01 inch of precipitation
- 133a normal year
The highest temperature in Sanford's official record (kept by the National Weather Service since 1948) is 103°F, on July 1, 1998; the lowest is 19°F, on January 22, 1985.
The wettest calendar year on that record is 1953, with 74.06 in.
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 annual normals, station USW00012854; records: ACIS (NOAA Regional Climate Centers), NWS threaded record SFBthr. Records use complete months only; a month missing more than three days is left out.
How humid and windy is Sanford, and how clear are its skies?
The summer (June-August) dew point averages 72°F. The muggiest month is August, with an average dew point of 72°F, above the 65°F at which most people call the air sticky; the driest air comes in January (49°F). February is the windiest month (8.3 mph on average), and June has the most clear or nearly clear hours (75%).
| Month | Dew point | Humidity | Afternoon humidity | Wind | Clear or few clouds | Overcast |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49°F | 70% | 48% | 7.7 mph | – | – |
| February | 53°F | 67% | 45% | 8.3 mph | – | – |
| March | 57°F | 66% | 42% | 8.0 mph | 67% | 8% |
| April | 61°F | 67% | 44% | 7.9 mph | 71% | 5% |
| May | 68°F | 71% | 51% | 7.3 mph | 63% | 4% |
| June | 72°F | 75% | 59% | 6.0 mph | 75% | 5% |
| July | 72°F | 75% | 57% | 5.9 mph | 67% | 2% |
| August | 72°F | 77% | 61% | 6.3 mph | 73% | 4% |
| September | 69°F | 77% | 59% | 6.8 mph | – | – |
| October | 61°F | 73% | 52% | 7.2 mph | 64% | 12% |
| November | 55°F | 73% | 51% | 6.9 mph | – | – |
| December | 51°F | 73% | 52% | 7.4 mph | – | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 hourly normals, station USW00012854. 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 Sanford?
Over a year 79% of the sunlight that would reach the ground under clear skies gets through the clouds in the area around Sanford, 4.9 kWh per square metre a day. April is the sunniest month (83%) and June the cloudiest (75%). Among the 459 U.S. places of 50,000 or more, that ranks tied 176th (with 33 others) in sunshine.
| Month | Share of clear-sky sunshine | Sunshine, kWh/m² a day |
|---|---|---|
| January | 79% | 3.5 |
| February | 77% | 4.1 |
| March | 81% | 5.2 |
| April | 83% | 6.1 |
| May | 83% | 6.5 |
| June | 75% | 5.8 |
| July | 76% | 5.7 |
| August | 76% | 5.4 |
| September | 77% | 4.9 |
| October | 81% | 4.4 |
| November | 81% | 3.6 |
| December | 79% | 3.1 |
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 Sanford need?
A normal year in Sanford brings 557 heating degree days, 90% fewer than the median U.S. place (5,373), and 3,554 cooling degree days, 3.9 times the median (908). No month reaches 300 heating degree days. For gardens and crops, NOAA counts 8,503 growing degree days a year above 50°F.
| Month | Heating | Cooling |
|---|---|---|
| January | 188 | 47 |
| February | 115 | 63 |
| March | 57 | 123 |
| April | 11 | 230 |
| May | 0 | 396 |
| June | 0 | 506 |
| July | 0 | 575 |
| August | 0 | 575 |
| September | 0 | 492 |
| October | 7 | 334 |
| November | 44 | 140 |
| December | 136 | 76 |
| Year (annual) | 557 | 3,554 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals, station USW00012854. 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 Sanford been warmer than normal lately?
2025 averaged 73.7°F, 0.5°F above the 1991-2020 normal of 73.2°F. 5 of the 5 complete years since 2021 ran warmer than the normal.
| Year | Mean | Against normal | Precip. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 74.2°F | +1.0°F | 53.64 |
| 2022 | 74.0°F | +0.8°F | 62.92 |
| 2023 | 74.8°F | +1.6°F | 51.50 |
| 2024 | 74.3°F | +1.1°F | 53.42 |
| 2025 | 73.7°F | +0.5°F | 45.93 |
Source: observed years: ACIS, station USW00012854. A year counts only with all twelve months complete.
How does Sanford's climate compare?
Sanford is warmer than 62 of the other 105 places with their own NOAA record in Florida, and wetter than 14. Across the 7,247 U.S. stations with normals, its annual mean of 73.2°F is warmer than 98%.
In the Köppen classification computed from these normals, Sanford 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 Sanford share this climate record?
11 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.
- Deltona, FLalso near: DeLand (9 mi, 70.3°F a year); New Smyrna Beach (20 mi, 72.0°F a year)100,513 people · 9 mi N
- Oviedo, FL41,901 people · 9 mi SE
- Winter Springs, FL39,822 people · 7 mi S
- DeBary, FL23,468 people · 9 mi NW
- Longwood, FL17,089 people · 8 mi SW
- Lake Mary, FL16,989 people · 6 mi W
- Heathrow, FL7,033 people · 8 mi W
- Geneva, FL3,520 people · 8 mi E
- Chuluota, FL2,179 people · 12 mi SE
- Midway, FL1,558 people · 1 mi NE
- Black Hammock, FL1,194 people · 6 mi SE
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 Sanford's other NOAA stations record?
One more NOAA station keeps 1991-2020 normals in or near Sanford. This page uses Orlando Sanford Airport; the other differs by site and elevation:
| Station | From this station | Elevation | Year | Jan low | Jul high | Precip. | Snow | Last frost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford station USC00087982 | 3 mi NW | 12 ft | 72.6°F | 49°F | 92°F | 54.0 | 0 | January 26 |
Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 normals for each station. Last frost: the median last spring date of 32°F.
Questions about Sanford's climate
What is the coldest month in Sanford?
January, with a normal high of 71°F and a normal low of 50°F. The warmest is July (93°F by day, 74°F at night).
Does it snow in Sanford?
Rarely. NOAA publishes no 1991-2020 snowfall normal for Sanford's NOAA station; Sanford's own co-op station Sanford station records 0 inches of snow in a normal year.
What is the rainiest month in Sanford?
June, with 8.19 in of precipitation in a normal year; the driest is November with 1.88 in.
What plant hardiness zone is Sanford in?
The USDA's 2023 map puts Sanford in zone 9b across its 2 ZIP code areas (9b in 32773, the largest). By the same method at Sanford's NOAA station, the coldest night of a typical year reaches 30°F (21 years, 1991-2020): zone 10a.
How late can frost come in Sanford?
In half of years the last 32°F night comes after January 24; in one year in ten it comes after February 23. Waiting until February 23 leaves about a one-in-ten chance of a later frost.
Nearby and next
- Sanford in OctoberThis month day by day, its records and recent years
- Florida climateThe statewide normals and every place in the state
- DeLand, FL16 miles from this station, 70.3°F a year
- Orlando Executive Airport, FL17 miles from this station, 73.8°F a year
- Mount Plymouth, FL18 miles from this station, 71.3°F a year
- Scottsmoor, FL22 miles from this station, 71.4°F a year
- Compare two placesMonth by month, side by side
Download these normals (CSV) · JSON · How these figures are made