Is this Bradenton summer hotter than usual? We just broke a record, experts say

If it’s felt hotter than usual in Bradenton lately, it’s not just you.

June 2026 shattered previous heat records for the Bradenton area, taking the No. 1 spot on the list of warmest Junes since record-keeping began in 1911, according to the National Weather Service of Tampa Bay in Ruskin. This spring was also the warmest on record for the Bradenton area.

The rising heat reflects broader regional and global trends as climate change pushes average temperatures higher — including record-setting global ocean temperatures in June.

“Temperatures this June averaged about 1 to 3 degrees above normal across the region with most of the official climate locations ending up in the Top Ten Warmest for June,” the NWS said in its latest climate report for the Tampa Bay area.

Combined with humidity, the high temperatures have pushed the heat index into dangerous territory in recent weeks, prompting heat advisories across the region.

According to Bob Bunting, chairman and CEO of the Climate Adaptation Center in Sarasota, the extreme heat is a taste of things to come for the Suncoast as climate warming progresses.

“The sad part is, the whole thing is just warming up. The whole planet is just warming up. Obviously, our local weather is affected by the climate,” Bunting explained. “There’s a lag, usually, between the time you get the warming globally and then you start seeing it in your own statistics.”

Last month also ranked among the driest Junes on record for the Bradenton area as a drought continues throughout most of Florida.

Here’s a closer look at the record-breaking weather trends and what experts say is contributing to the rising heat.

Hottest June on record for Bradenton

The average temperature in June was 84.9 degrees for the Bradenton-Sarasota area, according to a report from NWS.

That’s more than 3 degrees above normal, and a full degree higher than the previous record of 83.9 degrees in 1998.

That matches global trends, according to Bunting.

“The temperature in Florida and around the world is averaging close to 3 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it used to be since the Industrial Revolution,” Bunting said. “That’s a function of warming temperatures not only on land but in the ocean.”

While days are getting hotter, Bunting says the biggest driver of rising average temperature is actually nighttime heat.

“Back in the ’70s, it would cool down at night into the 70s. And now we have a significant number of nights with low temperatures above 80,” Bunting said.

Bunting explained that for every degree Fahrenheit that the temperature rises, the air can hold up to 4% more water vapor — Earth’s most common greenhouse gas. That extra vapor helps trap heat overnight.

“That means that at night, the heat does not radiate back to space and cool the surface down as much as it used to,” Bunting said.

Locally, Bunting said steadily increasing temperatures in the Gulf and rapid urbanization are also playing a role in rising temperatures.

Record heat for Bradenton in 2026

June wasn’t the only exceptionally warm month for the Bradenton area so far this year.

May 2026 tied with May 2024 for the hottest May on record, with an average temperature of 81.4 degrees, according to NWS.

Meanwhile, April 2026 was the fourth-warmest on record for the Bradenton-Sarasota area, and March was the third-warmest.

All that extra heat amounted to the warmest spring on record for the area, with an average temperature 3.8 degrees above normal.

Local weather records also underscore how quickly climate change has raised the thermostat in Bradenton.

Of Bradenton’s hottest Junes on record, most happened in the last decade, according to NWS data. All of Bradenton’s top 10 hottest years on record have occurred since 2015.

Bunting said the Suncoast can expect the warming trend to continue over the coming years, bringing levels of heat and humidity typically associated with South Florida farther north.

“We’re getting more and more tropical as the system warms up,” Bunting said.

Drought brings one of the driest Junes on record

June is typically the beginning of the summer rainy season in Florida.

But an ongoing drought impacting Manatee County and most of the state pushed the Bradenton area to near-record levels of dryness.

It was the second-driest June on record for the Bradenton-Sarasota area, according to NWS, with only 0.88 inches of rainfall recorded. The driest year on record is 1998, when 0.64 inches of rainfall were recorded.

Hot and dry conditions forecast to continue

The hot and dry weather patterns show little signs of changing for the time being, according to NWS.

“Above normal temperatures are forecast for at least the rest of the week, with afternoon heat index values of over 100 expected to be near Heat Advisory levels in some spots each day,” NWS forecasters said Wednesday.

The NWS said rain chances will “unfortunately remain lower than normal” for this time of year as a layer of dry Saharan air pushes across the state.