Why do I care?  Having basic knowledge of how an area is impacted by temperature as the climate changes is important for understanding what to expect for a certain season or month.

Temperature

The climate during the summer season across the Southeast is uniform in many areas. High temperatures usually range around the upper 80s to lower 90s for most of the Southeast except in the mountains where it is cooler due to the higher elevation.  Due to the close proximity of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, it is usually humid and thunderstorms occur often in the Southeast region.

Temperatures during the winter vary much more than during the summer. For example, it can be 80 degrees F and sunny in Florida while places in the Appalachian Mountains deal with sub-freezing temperatures and blinding snow. Polar fronts can dip down as far south as Florida and bring freezing temperatures to nearly all the Southeast; however, extreme cold air outbreaks where temperatures dip down below 0 degrees F are very rare, even in places like Virginia and North Carolina. As one would expect, the more northward you are, the colder the temperatures will be.

*Note: All temperatures listed above on the maps are in degrees Fahrenheit.