The start of fall means we’ll soon see changes in Florida

The leaves are changing, and cool air is starting to spill into parts of the country. We can even find some snow in the mountains of the West Coast.

But, in Florida, we still have the warmth, humidity and afternoon storms.

So when does it start to cool down for us, and when does the rainy season generally end?

Well, it is soon. The average start date to what we refer to as the dry season is October 15 for most of Central Florida.

Of course, this does not always happen in mid-October.

The latest onset of the dry season on record in Orlando is November 7. That occurred in 1971.

The earliest onset on record is September 27, which happened in 2006.

This is when cold fronts finally start making it as far south as Central and South Florida.

The fronts bring in the refreshing drier air along with bouts of cooler air.

It does take some time for that cool air to make it down this far, of course.

“Cooler season” starts in Central Florida when the morning temperature drops below 60 degrees.

This also generally happens in mid-to-late October. The average first morning below 60 in Orlando is October 19.

The “colder season,” meaning temperatures dipping below 50 degrees, generally happens in early November.

The earliest onset to this season was in 1977, on October 14 in Orlando. The latest occurred in 2001 and not until December 19.

So while fall does not bring us the traditional colors of the season, it does signify the end of the rainy season and the start of the dry, more comfortable part of the year.

However, we are not done with hurricane season either. We have now passed the peak of the season in September, but even October can be an active month for tropical systems in Florida.

Hurricane season does not officially end until November 30.