One of the draws to living in Florida is the sunny, warm weather. Though the warm temperatures are nice, the increasing chances of extreme heat days can make working outside dangerous. Based on historic and projected future temperature trends, we are seeing the high temperatures rising in the coming years.
While the high temperatures may only be increasing 2-5 degrees over the next couple decades, the cascading effects of this rise will be felt throughout the city. We have found that one of the biggest impacts will not be the daytime highs getting higher, but the nighttime highs lows getting higher. What this means is that the temperatures will not drop as low at night. The increased lows will now allow the relief from daytime heat that we normally experience.
In addition to increased overall temperature, Oldsmar will be facing more days above 90 degrees F. By the end of the century, we could be seeing nearly 200 days per year over 90F. This shift to more days at higher temperatures will affect our growing seasons and can have implications on the safety for outdoor workers.