Seasonal Weather Patterns in Jacksonville: Winter Freezes, Spring Heat, Summer Storms and Dry Falls

Summer is the hot, wet core of the Jacksonville year, with a June to August airport normal of 21.25 inches of rain and a 90.9 F average high, against 8.92 inches and 67.3 F in winter (NOAA ACIS season normals).

The seasons here are the three month meteorological ones, and every number belongs to one station, which ACIS lists as JACKSONVILLE INTL AP at an elevation of 24.0 feet (NOAA ACIS). Spring and fall share nearly the same average high, 80.0 and 80.4 F, but the fall average low is 61.1 F against 57.0 F in spring, and fall brings 13.59 inches of rain to spring's 9.64. The monthly climate reports from the NWS office in Jacksonville carry a climate record period that starts in 1871 (NWS Jacksonville July 2026 report). Last verified: October 18, 2026, by pulling the season and monthly mean temperature normals and the October 2025 to September 2026 monthly record for station USW00013889 from ACIS, and by reading the NWS Jacksonville monthly climate reports for November 2025 and January, April, July and September 2026 in the Iowa Environmental Mesonet archive.

January brings about six freezing nights in a normal Jacksonville year, and January 2026 had 12 nights at or below 32 F with a low of 22 F on January 16 (NWS Jacksonville January 2026 report).

The NWS Jacksonville report for January 2026 lists a normal of 6.2 nights at or below freezing for the month and a normal mean of 54.2 F; the month's mean came in at 54.1 F, almost exactly normal, even with the extra frosts (NWS Jacksonville). Rain was short at 1.30 inches against a normal of 3.28, falling on 4 days against a normal of 7.7. The report also logged one day of light snow and a trace of snowfall. The January record low on the same report is 7 F, set on January 21, 1985.

Freezing nights started early in the 2025 to 2026 winter. November 2025 had 2 nights at or below 32 F, with a low of 28 F on November 11, against a November normal of 0.8, and December 2025 and February 2026 added 2 and 6 more (NWS Jacksonville November 2025 report and NOAA ACIS monthly data). The snow and freezes guide covers Jacksonville's rare snowfalls and hard freezes in more depth.

Cold snaps have a city response. JaxReady says City of Jacksonville warming centers open when the NWS Jacksonville forecast calls for 27 F or below for two hours or more within 12 hours, or when the NWS issues a Hard Freeze Watch or Warning, a Cold Weather Advisory or an Extreme Cold Watch or Warning (JaxReady winter weather). On weekdays and Saturdays the centers are the city's public libraries and community centers during normal hours; on Sundays and holidays they are the Main Library at 303 N. Laura St. and the Legends Center at 5130 Soutel Drive from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and the Legends Center also opens overnight. JTA rides to a warming center are free on declared Cold Weather Emergency days.

Spring is far drier than summer: the March to May normal at the Jacksonville airport is 9.64 inches of rain, and April normally has only 1.3 days reaching 90 F (NOAA ACIS and NWS Jacksonville April 2026 report).

April 2026 ran far ahead of that. The NWS Jacksonville report counts 7 days at 90 F or above, and a high of 95 F on April 29 that tied the record of 95 F set on April 21, 1968 (NWS Jacksonville). The month brought 0.87 inches of rain against a 2.93 inch normal, with 5 days of measurable rain where 6.0 is normal, and a mean of 70.7 F, 2.6 degrees above normal.

The Jacksonville season then flipped. May 2026 brought 8.09 inches of rain at the airport and 12 days at or above 90 F (NOAA ACIS monthly data), in a month whose 1991 to 2020 normal rainfall is 3.42 inches (NOAA ACIS monthly normals). In the ACIS record for the twelve months shown below, May 2026 is the first month with double digit 90 degree days.

A normal Jacksonville July has 23.6 days at or above 90 F and rain on 13.6 days, and July 2026 ran hotter, with 28 days at 90 F or more and thunderstorms on 16 days (NWS Jacksonville July 2026 report).

The July 2026 report gives an average high of 94.5 F against a 91.9 F normal, a peak of 98 F on July 9 and a lowest reading of 68 F on July 2 (NWS Jacksonville). Rain totaled 6.42 inches, close to the 6.77 inch normal, but it came on 9 days rather than the usual 13.6, and the wettest day, July 31, brought 2.79 inches. Average relative humidity for the month was 72 percent. The record July high on that report is 104 F, from July 11, 1879.

Across the 2026 Jacksonville summer, ACIS counts 21 days at or above 90 F in June, 28 in July and 26 in August, and 9.03 inches of rain in August (NOAA ACIS monthly data). August's 1991 to 2020 normal rainfall is 6.88 inches (NOAA ACIS monthly normals).

JaxReady says thunderstorms can form in Duval County at any time but are most frequent from late spring through early fall (JaxReady thunderstorms and lightning). The City of Jacksonville keeps lightning warning systems with air horns at five public parks, Ringhaver Park, Losco Regional Park, Earl Johnson Park, Chuck Rogers Park and Patton Park; each sensor watches for electrostatic energy as far as 15 miles away and judges the lightning threat within about 2 miles.

Fall starts hot and ends dry: September normally still has 9.0 days of 90 F and rain on 12.4 days, while November's normal rainfall is just 2.00 inches (NWS Jacksonville September 2026 report and NWS Jacksonville November 2025 report).

September 2026 fit the warm pattern with 12 days at or above 90 F and a mean of 79.6 F, but only 4.29 inches of rain fell against a 7.56 inch normal, even though measurable rain came on 15 days (NWS Jacksonville). The report's September record for rainfall is 21.79 inches, from 1908.

November 2025 was the extreme case. The NWS Jacksonville report shows a total of 0.00 inches, marked as a record set or tied, with no day of measurable rain against a normal of 6.6 such days (NWS Jacksonville November 2025 report). The same report lists 18 days with fog. The September to November season normal is 13.59 inches of rain, with an average high of 80.4 F and an average low of 61.1 F (NOAA ACIS season normals).

From October 2025 to September 2026, nine of the twelve months at Jacksonville International Airport ran above their normal mean temperature, while rain swung from none in November 2025 to 9.03 inches in August 2026 (NOAA ACIS monthly data).

Normal mean temperatures come from the ACIS 1991 to 2020 normals for the same station (NOAA ACIS normals); observed values come from the station's monthly record (NOAA ACIS monthly data). October 2025, at 70.39 F against 71.2, January 2026, at 54.13 F against 54.2, and February 2026, at 56.05 F against 57.5, were the three months below normal. March 2026 stands out at 66.32 F against its 62.4 F normal. The Jacksonville weather hub carries the full set of monthly normal highs, lows and rainfall, and the historical storm impacts guide covers the hurricanes that fall within these months.