Florida’s summer 2026: The heat and drought in the rearview

The year's shortest meteorological window has closed, framing a season of extreme weather across the Sunshine State. Florida’s 2026 meteorological summer felt like it would never end—and the data proves it wasn't just your imagination! Beyond just the long calendar, the weather itself was relentless, with Orlando seeing one of its warmest summer in over 130 years and Miami hitting a triple-digit 100° mark for the first time since the 1940s.

The real twist in the story, though, was the missing rain. Even though summer is usually the rainy season for the Sunshine State, almost every major city—from Tallahassee down to Miami—faced a significant "rain debt," with some spots falling nearly 15 inches short of what they usually see. While Pensacola was the lucky outlier with a surplus, the rest of the state essentially experienced two different stories: a summer defined by record-breaking heat and a historic lack of water.

Over these three months, communities faced historic, blistering temperatures alongside an intense, widespread drought. Meteorologist Leslie Hudson explains that due to a rare calendar quirk where Memorial Day fell as early as possible and Labor Day as late as possible, we are actually living through a massive 106-day summer.

And here's one more reason this summer really was unusually long on the calendar: Next year's unofficial summer will be a full week shorter. Memorial Day 2027 falls May 31, while Labor Day falls Sept. 6 — giving us 99 days when both holidays are counted. The next time Memorial Day falls May 25 and Labor Day lands September 7 is 2037.