Tallahassee Environment

The 1991-2020 normals at the airport station show a July average high of 92.1 degrees and a January average low of 40.5 degrees (NOAA ACIS 1991-2020 normals, Tallahassee airport station).

Source for the table: NOAA ACIS 1991-2020 normals, Tallahassee airport station. The station is listed in the NOAA system as TALLAHASSEE REGIONAL AP; the airport is now named Tallahassee International. June is the wettest month in the normals at 7.76 inches, and October and November are the driest, at 3.24 and 3.10 inches.

Lake Jackson in north Tallahassee sits in a basin formed by dissolving limestone, and DEP says part of the lake naturally and cyclically drains after prolonged drought, a lack of heavy local rain and evapotranspiration (Florida DEP, Lake Jackson Aquatic Preserve).

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection manages it as the 5,130 acre Lake Jackson Aquatic Preserve, which the Legislature designated in 1973 along with Carr Lake and Mallard Pond (Florida DEP, Lake Jackson Aquatic Preserve). DEP says Porter Hole Sink, a 28 foot deep cavernous sinkhole near Faulk Drive Landing, has disappeared and refilled dozens of times in recorded history and has drained many times since June 2021. After an inundation period from December 2023 to October 2025, Porter Hole is drained once more.

The dry down changes how the lake can be used. DEP lists only Crowder Landing and Cedar Hill Landing as open to motorized vessels during the current low water, prohibits lake bottom driving with any motorized vehicle, and warns visitors not to go down into the sinkhole or the remaining pools because the sediment may collapse (Florida DEP, Lake Jackson Aquatic Preserve). The Florida Geological Survey defines karst as terrain produced by the chemical weathering and dissolution of limestone or dolomite, with landforms that include sinkholes, caves, disappearing streams, springs and underground drainage systems, and its sinkhole page links to subsidence incident reports (Florida Geological Survey). The Lake Jackson and Porter Sink guide covers the drainage cycle in depth.

Leon County drew down Lake Munson from November 1, 2022, to May 17, 2024, in coordination with the State of Florida, as part of the county's long term Action Plan for the lake (Leon County, Lake Munson Drawdown).

At its March 21, 2023, meeting the Board of County Commissioners extended the drawdown to spring 2024, and refilling began on May 17, 2024, by closing all the gates on the dam in steps to raise the water over about two months (Leon County, Lake Munson Drawdown). Under the heading Why Not Dredge, the county page says dredging can harm Lake Munson by disturbing and resuspending sediment and contaminants, damaging habitats, removing natural seed sources and potentially creating a sinkhole.

The Lake Munson guide follows the cleanup and what Leon County reported after the drawdown. Upper and Lower Lake Lafayette on the east side have their own guide, which covers the lake divided into an upper and a lower basin.

Tallahassee and unincorporated Leon County each hold Community Rating System class 5 in FEMA flood insurance records, worth 25 percent off premiums inside the special flood hazard area (FEMA NFIP Community Status Book, City of Tallahassee; FEMA NFIP Community Status Book, Leon County).

Sources for the table: FEMA NFIP Community Status Book, City of Tallahassee and FEMA NFIP Community Status Book, Leon County. Outside the special flood hazard area the Tallahassee and Leon County discount is 10 percent. Both communities participate in the program and neither is under sanction. The currently effective map date in both records is 08/18/09.

A Leon County program implements the canopy roads plan on 76 miles of designated canopy roads under a joint County and City Canopy Roads Management Plan, covering scenic easements, removal of high risk trees, pruning and new planting (Leon County Canopy Roads Management).

Pruning over the roadway keeps a minimum vertical clearance of 14 feet 6 inches, the figure the county cites from federal and state guidelines. Trees marked for removal carry an orange dot and an orange flag, trees only being pruned carry an orange flag, and information about trees marked for removal is available from Leon County Operations at (850) 606-1400 (Leon County Canopy Roads Management). The county page also lists a sight distance project at Miccosukee Road and Miles Johnson Road that moves Miccosukee Road about 5 feet north.

The canopy roads guide lists the designated roads and the protection zone along them.

For Tallahassee neighborhoods that bears visit, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission living with bears page states that feeding bears is illegal and that bears are found throughout Florida and sometimes visit neighborhoods.

FWC asks people to secure garbage, pet food and birdseed and to contact the local FWC office about conflicts. It also states that it is illegal to intentionally put out food or garbage that attracts bears and causes conflicts, and that screened enclosures will not keep bears out (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission). The black bears guide covers why bears visit Leon County neighborhoods.

Prescribed fire is the subject of two guides. Tall Timbers describes itself as recognized as the home of the study of fire ecology and as one of the nation's leading land trusts, and says the conserved working lands of the Greater Red Hills region contribute $272 million a year to local economies and support 2,300 jobs. Tall Timbers also says those preserves support the largest community of red-cockaded woodpeckers on private lands. The Tall Timbers and prescribed fire guide and the red-cockaded woodpeckers guide take each subject further.

Seven Tallahassee environment guides each answer one question, matched below.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, by re-reading the DEP Lake Jackson preserve status and landing list, Leon County's Lake Munson drawdown and canopy roads pages, both FEMA NFIP community records, the ACIS airport normals, and the FWC, Tall Timbers and Florida Geological Survey pages.