We can have some hot weather in late May and early June before our rainy season starts. 

What You Need To Know

  • Late May and June can be the hottest of the year

  • The highest temperatures tend to happen just before the rainy season kicks in

  • Tampa's hottest May week happened around this time in 2017

  • There were five consecutive days of record highs

Let’s look back just a few years to Tampa’s hottest 5-Days on record in 2017. 

High temperatures:

  • May 16:  96 degrees
  • May 17:  98 degrees
  • May 18:  97 degrees
  • May 19:  98 degrees
  • May 20:  96 degrees

We had five consecutive days with record highs! 

The most notable were the records that occurred on May 17, 2017. The high temperature was 98 degrees, which tied the previous record of 98 set in 1975. What is significant about 98 degrees is it's the hottest temperature ever recorded in Tampa in May.

What is just as impressive is the fact we were just one degree shy from meeting the all-time record high temperature for Tampa of 99 degrees, originally set in 1985.

That may surprise some of you because Tampa has never officially reached a high of 100 degrees, and the records date back to 1890. 

It was also very warm at night, with lows setting records. The low on May 23 was only 79 degrees.

So, summer can start early here, but not this year. Temperatures are running near normal for the next week or so, with the humidity under control.

Once the rainy season kicks into gear, temperatures tend to not warm as much. The reason for it goes back to more clouds, daily showers and thunderstorms, along with more humidity in the air.

All of this, combined with the Gulf of Mexico, is partly why Tampa has never recorded 100 degrees.