Graphical Climatology of Miami Temperatures, Rainfall and other Variables (1949-Present)

Presented by Charles Fisk*Last Update: 4 Jan 2013
Note: Website is in process of redesign. No updates until completed.
The following is a graphical climatology of Miami, Florida (International Airport) temperatures, precipitation, and various other parameters, from 1949 through 2012. Presented are daily climatological overview charts (temperature and rainfall), annual time-series (temperature and rainfall), “climograms” (hour-by-month depictions of temperature, humidity, winds, Flying Weather, cloud ceilings, fog, and thunderstorms), followed by year-to-year graphs that depict daily max/min temperature, daily mean temperature anomalies, and daily rainfall. The year-to-year graphs go back to 1949, the annual rainfall series back to 1902. New features will be added over time.
Data were obtained courtesy of the NOAA National Climatic Data Center and the NWS- Miami online site.
DAILY TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL CLIMATOLOGIES:
MIAMI DAILY TEMPERATURES AND RAINFALL PROBABILITIES

Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
Complete Year Daily Temperatures | Complete Year Daily Rainfall Probabilities   
Miami Year to Date Total Rainfall for 2012 vs. Long-Term Average and Record Wet 1959    **

ANNUAL TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL TIME-SERIES:

Miami Annual Mean Temperatures (1949-2012)    ** 
Miami Annual Rainfall (1906-2012)                         **

HOUR BY MONTH CLIMOGRAMS:

Miami Mean Hourly Temperatures/Humidities
Miami Winds (Mean Vector Winds, Prevailing Winds, Mean Speeds)
Miami Flying Weather/Ceilings (Percent Time High VFR, Percent Time with Ceilings/Median Ceilings’ Heights)
Miami Fog Incidence
Miami Thunderstorm Incidence

YEAR-TO-YEAR GRAPHS:
The year-to-year daily graphs pages (links below) consist of four charts tiled horizontally. The uppermost graph displays “floating-bars” or “hi-lo” depictions of the daily maxima and minima. Each bar represents an individual day’s temperature range. Superimposed are two line traces, the upper one connecting 1949 to 2010 average daily maxima, the lower one 1949 to 2010 average daily minima. The bars depict the varying diurnal, synoptic, long-wave, seasonal, and sea-surface temperature influences on temperature over time, and subjectively, some years’ features can be quite interesting to look at (see “REPEAT LINKS TO SOME OF THE MORE INTERESTING YEAR-TO-YEAR GRAPHS, WITH ACCOMPANYING NOTES” section below).
The second chart down shows the arithmetic departures of day-to-day mean temperatures less the corresponding 1949-present calendar-day average means. Vertical lines extending upward from the zero line indicate above average means for the day (colored red), those extending downward indicate below average daily means (colored blue). In the entire series, the most extreme departure of either sign is -31 F on 24 December 1989 (associated with a daily maximum: 45 F, daily minimum: 31 F)
The third chart down shows the second chart’s departures in deseasonalized or “standardized” form. Standardized anomalies are calculated by dividing the arithmetic anomaly by the climatological mean temperature standard deviation for the calendar day in question, creating “z-scores”. Through 2010, the most extreme z-score was -4.15z, also for 24 December 1989
The fourth chart down depicts daily rainfall, as high as 14.85 inches (25 April 1979).
 
YEAR-TO-YEAR GRAPHS – COMPLETE SET OF LINKS
1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
LINKS TO SOME OF THE MORE INTERESTING YEAR-TO-YEAR GRAPHS, WITH ACCOMPANYING NOTES

1950 – Mild January.
1956 – Driest year (37.00′) since 1927, and driest since that year. Only 0.02″ in March.
1957 – 7.02″ rain on 1 May.
1958 – February coolest calendar month in Miami history down to present (59.4 F); 18.14″ rain in June.
1959 – 20.56″ rain in June, 89.33″ for the year (highest amount for any year through the present and back through 1902).
1960 – 24.40″ rain in September, most for any individual calendar month since October 1924 (25.02″). Included 6.07″ in connection with Hurricane Donna
1964 – 6.41 dropped on 27 August from Hurricane Cleo
1965 – Relatively cool July/August. Heavy single-day rainfall totals in September/October. More than 6″ dropped over 7-8 September from Hurricane Betsy.
1966 – Relatively cool Summer by Miami standards; 82.06″ rainfall for the year..
1968 – Nearly 41″ rainfall over May and June, 83.39″ for the year
1971 – Just 1.78″ rainfall over January-April; 0.07″ in April. 96 F on 30 April highest ever recorded in April.
1972 – Another relatively cool Summer.
1974 – Warmest year in the historical record up to this time (77.3 F), surpassing 1911 (76.2 F).
1975 – Second warmest year to date, 0.3 F cooler than last year’s record-setter.
1976 – Relatively cool in June and from August-October.
1977 – Great Arctic outbreak of January drops mercury to 31 F on the 20th. Infrequent rain-days over January-April, but 28.24″ rain over May and June.
1979 – 14.85″ rain 25 April, record highest for single calendar day.
1980 – Late season cold snap drops temperature to 32 F on 2 March. Afternoon maximum just 53 F; daily mean 28 F below average for day (4.1 standard deviations below). 95 F on 1 October sets all-time record high for that month.
1981 – 32 F on 13 January. More than 27″ rain over August and September.
1982 – Annual mean temperature (77.5 F) surpasses 1974’s previous high mark by 0.2 F).
1984 – Very wet and cool over late May.
1985 – 30 F on 22 January.
1986 – Persistent above normal warmth from late October almost through year-end. Warmest November in history.
1987 – 88 F on 19 January ties maximum record for this calendar month. August warmest calendar month in history (85.4 F) up to this time.
1989 – Strange weather year. Less than 0.1 F cooler than warmest on record 1982, but with several sharp, abbreviated, cold snaps. Record cold minimum for October set (53 F). Daily max/min on 24 December just 45 F/31 F, 31 F below normal for day and 4.15 standard deviations below. Only 5.40″ inches’ rainfall through May – about 1/3 of normal. Year finishes with 42.63″, driest since 1956.
1990 – Warmest year in history (78.2 F) by 0.7 F.
1991 – 21.64″ rainfall in October. Wettest year (71.42″) since 1969
1993 – Sharp, abbreviated cold snap in late October.
1994 – Second warmest year (78.1 F) in history. Wettest (79.56″) since 1968.
1995 – 20.33″ rainfall in June, another wet year overall (79.31″).
1998 – Much above normal warmth over much of May to August. Third warmest year in history (77.9 F) overall.
1999 – More than 10″ rain dropped over 14-15 October from Hurricane Irene.
2000 – 12.56″ rainfall on 2 October.
2002 – Warm and relatively dry except for a wet/relatively cool pattern from mid-May to early July. 91 F on 6 November sets record high maximum for that month.
2003 – Unusually warm over February and March. 93 F on 22 March, highest ever in March.
2005 – 4.18″ rain dropped on 25 August from Hurricane Katrina.
2006 – Nearly 30″ rain over August and September.
2009 – Third warmest year (77.9 F) in history. Driest (52.09″) since 1989. 88 F on 2 December sets record high maximum for that month, only to be broken on the 10th with 89 F reached.
2010 – Coolest year (75.8 F) since 1985, but warmest calendar month (June: 85.5 F) in history. 48 F on 10 January, lowest daily maximum ever recorded for a January
2011 – Warmest year (78.3 F) in Miami history.

* Member, American Meteorological Society