Last month was the hottest September in more than a century in West Palm Beach with all but three days averaging above-normal warmth and two record-breaking high temperatures measured in the mid-90s.
It was also the first September since at least 2009 where meteorologists issued heat advisories for Palm Beach County based on a dangerous combination of high temperatures and humidity. By the end of the month, the number of days with heat advisories totaled 10.
Robert Molleda, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service office in Miami, said September’s heat continued a summer trend marked by warm overnights and stoked by above-average ocean temperatures that left sea breezes lacking.
“The southwest wind flow on the back side of Helene did help us warm up quite a bit,” Molleda said about the waning days of September following Hurricane Helene .
A record high of 94 degrees was measured at Palm Beach International Airport on Sept. 28, two days after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region. The other record high of 96 degrees was set Sept. 13, breaking the 95 degrees set in 1944.