Will 2023 be the hottest year ever in Bradenton-Sarasota? July set heat, drought records

If you ventured outside over the past month, it probably won’t surprise you to hear that it was the hottest July ever recorded in the Bradenton-Sarasota area.

It was also the region’s hottest month ever recorded, period.

Preliminary data from the National Weather Service shows that the temperature average for July 2023 was 86.2 degrees. That’s more than 3 degrees over the normal of 83.1 degrees.

It tops the previous records for warmest July and warmest month ever, which were both set in July 2020, when the average temperature reached 85.8 degrees.

This July, both days and nights were hotter than usual, temperature data shows. But exceptionally warmer nights were largely responsible for pushing the heat to record-breaking territory.

The average maximum temperature for July was 93.6 degrees. That’s a tie with August 1989 for the seventh-highest average on record.

The average minimum temperature for July was 78.8 degrees. That’s a tie with July 2020 for the highest average on record.

The extreme heat was paired with little relief from rain. It was the second-driest July on record for the region, NWS said, with just over an inch of rainfall recorded. That’s more than six inches below normal.

Coastal Manatee County is now under an extreme drought, and the rest of the county is under a severe drought.

Bradenton-Sarasota temperature averages have been above normal every month this year, NWS data shows, and the region is on track to have the overall warmest year ever on record.

July wasn’t the first month in 2023 to top the charts. April 2023 is the warmest April on record, with an average temperature of 76.2 — 3.6 degrees above normal.

Above-normal temperatures are expected to continue across the Southeast U.S. in August, the NWS Climate Prediction Center says.

This story was originally published August 2, 2023 at 10:47 AM.