Editing Key West (section)

==Climate==
[[File:Monthly Climate Normals (1991-2020) - Key West Area, FL(ThreadEx).svg|thumb|right|Climate chart for Key West]]
Key West has a [[tropical savanna climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''[[Tropical savanna climate|Aw]]'', similar to many of the [[Caribbean]] [[islands]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.johnabbott.qc.ca/webpages/departments/geoscience/intro/Koppen/KoppenMap.htm|title=Koppen climate map|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706200651/http://www2.johnabbott.qc.ca/webpages/departments/geoscience/intro/Koppen/KoppenMap.htm|archive-date=July 6, 2011|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Like most localities near the edge of the tropics, Key West has a relatively short range in monthly mean temperatures between the coldest month (January) and the hottest month (July), with the annual range of monthly mean temperatures around {{convert|15|F-change|1}}. The lowest recorded temperature in Key West is {{convert|41|°F}} on January 12, 1886, and January 13, 1981. Key West is located in USDA plant [[hardiness zone]] 12a, with an annual mean minimum temperature of {{convert|50|°F}}.

Prevailing easterly [[trade winds]] and sea breezes suppress the usual summertime heating (while increasing the winter rainfall), with temperatures rarely reaching {{convert|95|°F|0}}. There are 56 days per year with {{convert|90|°F|0}} or greater highs,<ref name = NOAA /> with the average window for such readings June 8 through September 24, shorter than almost the entire [[Southeastern United States|southeastern U.S.]] Low temperatures often remain above {{convert|80|°F|0}}, however. The all-time record high temperature is {{convert|97|°F|0}} on July 19, 1880, and August 29, 1956.<ref name = NOAA/>

===Wet and dry seasons===
[[File:key road.jpeg|thumb|Palm trees along a street in the [[Truman Annex]]]]
Like most [[tropical climate]]s, Key West has a two-season wet and dry climate. The period from November through April is normally sunny and fairly dry, with only 25 percent of the annual rainfall occurring. May through October is normally the [[wet season]]. During the wet season some rain falls on most days, often as brief, but heavy tropical downpours, followed by intense sun. Early morning is the favored time for these showers, which is different from mainland Florida, where showers and thunderstorms usually occur in the afternoon. 

Easterly (tropical) waves during this season occasionally bring excessive rainfall, while infrequent [[hurricanes]] may be accompanied by unusually heavy amounts. On average, rainfall markedly peaks between August and October; the single wettest month in Key West is September, when the threat from tropical weather systems (hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions) is greatest. Key West is the driest city in Florida, averaging just over {{convert|40|in|mm}} of rain per year. This is driven primarily by Key West's relative dryness in May, June and July. In mainland Florida peninsular areas like Orlando, Tampa/St. Petersburg and Fort Myers, June and July average monthly rainfalls typically reach {{convert|7|to|10|in|mm}}, while Key West has only half such amounts over the same period.<ref>{{Citation| last1 =Gutelius| first1 =Scott| last2 =Stone| first2 =Marshall |last3=Varner |first3=Marcus| title =True Secrets of Key West Revealed! | place=Key West| publisher =Eden Entertainment Limited| year =2003| isbn =978-0-9672819-4-0}}</ref>

===Hurricanes===
[[File:Flood102405.JPG|thumb|Flooding caused by [[Hurricane Wilma]] on [[Key Haven]], island suburb of the City of Key West on [[Raccoon Key]] (October 24, 2005)]]
Key West, like the rest of the Florida Keys, is vulnerable to [[hurricanes]]. The most recent hurricane to impact Key West was [[Hurricane Irma]], which made landfall in the Keys in the morning of September 10, 2017 as a Category 4 storm.

Some locals maintain that [[Hurricane Wilma]] on October 24, 2005, was the worst storm in memory. The entire island was told to evacuate and business owners were forced to shut their doors. After the hurricane had passed, the resulting storm surge sent {{convert|8|ft|m|0|spell=on|abbr=off|sp=us}} of water inland completely inundating a large portion of the lower Keys. Low-lying areas of Key West and the lower Keys, including major tourist destinations, were under as much as {{convert|3|ft|m|0|spell=on|abbr=off|sp=us}} of water. Sixty percent of the homes in Key West were flooded.<ref>Key West Citizen "New commissioners' trial by wind and flood" October 27, 2005</ref>  The higher parts of Old Town, such as the [[Solares Hill]] and [[Key West Cemetery|cemetery]] areas, did not flood, because of their higher elevations of {{convert|12|to|18|ft|m|0}}.<ref name="ReferenceB">Key West Citizen October 25, 2005, pp 1–2, 6</ref>  The surge destroyed tens of thousands of cars throughout the lower Keys, and many houses were flooded with {{convert|1|to|2|ft|cm|0|spell=on|abbr=off|sp=us}} of sea water. A local newspaper referred to Key West and the lower Keys as a "car graveyard".<ref>Key West Citizen "Flooded cars litter the Keys" October 27, 2005</ref>  The peak of the storm surge occurred when the eye of Wilma had already passed over the [[Naples, Florida|Naples]] area, and the sustained winds during the surge were less than {{convert|40|mi/h|km/h kn|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>  The storm destroyed the piers at the [[Nude beach|clothing-optional]] Atlantic Shores Motel and breached the shark tank at the [[Key West Aquarium]], freeing its sharks. Damage postponed the island's famous Halloween [[Fantasy Fest]] until the following December. [[MTV]]'s ''[[The Real World: Key West]]'' was filming during the hurricane and deals with the storm.

In September 2005, [[NOAA]] opened its National Weather Service forecast office building on White Street. The building is designed to withstand a [[Saffir–Simpson scale|Category 5 hurricane]] and its storm surge.{{fact|date=February 2025}}

The most intense previous hurricane was [[Hurricane Georges]], a Category 2, in September 1998. The storm damaged many of the houseboats along "Houseboat Row" on [[South Roosevelt Boulevard]] near Cow Key channel on the east side of the island.{{fact|date=February 2025}}

{{Key West weatherbox}}

{|style="width:100%;text-align:center;line-height:1.2em;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|-
!Colspan=14|Climate data for Key West
|-
!Month
!Jan
!Feb
!Mar
!Apr
!May
!Jun
!Jul
!Aug
!Sep
!Oct
!Nov
!Dec
!style="border-left-width:medium"|Year
|-
!Average sea temperature °F (°C)
|style="background:#FFA000;color:#000000;"|71.2 <br />(21.8)
|style="background:#FFA000;color:#000000;"|71.2 <br />(21.8)
|style="background:#FF8B00;color:#000000;"|73.2 <br />(22.9)
|style="background:#FF5A00;color:#000000;"|77.7 <br />(25.4)
|style="background:#FF3A00;color:#FFFFFF;"|80.6 <br />(27.0)
|style="background:#FF1D00;color:#FFFFFF;"|83.3 <br />(28.5)
|style="background:#FF0500;color:#FFFFFF;"|85.5 <br />(29.7)
|style="background:#FA0000;color:#FFFFFF;"|86.9 <br />(30.5)
|style="background:#FF0500;color:#FFFFFF;"|85.5 <br />(29.7)
|style="background:#FF2300;color:#FFFFFF;"|82.8 <br />(28.2)
|style="background:#FF5200;color:#000000;"|78.4 <br />(25.8)
|style="background:#FF7D00;color:#000000;"|74.5 <br />(23.6)
|style="background:#FF4900;color:#000000;border-left-width:medium"|79.2 <br />(26.2)
|-
!Mean daily daylight hours
|style="background:#F7F722;color:#000000;"|11.0
|style="background:#F7F722;color:#000000;"|11.0
|style="background:#FFFF33;color:#000000;"|12.0
|style="background:#FFFF44;color:#000000;"|13.0
|style="background:#FFFF44;color:#000000;"|13.0
|style="background:#FFFF55;color:#000000;"|14.0
|style="background:#FFFF44;color:#000000;"|13.0
|style="background:#FFFF44;color:#000000;"|13.0
|style="background:#FFFF33;color:#000000;"|12.0
|style="background:#FFFF33;color:#000000;"|12.0
|style="background:#F7F722;color:#000000;"|11.0
|style="background:#F7F722;color:#000000;"|11.0
|style="background:#FFFF35;color:#000000;border-left-width:medium"|12.2
|-
!Average [[Ultraviolet index]]
|style="background:#f85900;color:#000000;"|6
|style="background:#d8001d;color:#000000;"|8
|style="background:#d8001d;color:#000000;"|10
|style="background:#6b49c8;color:#000000;"|11
|style="background:#6b49c8;color:#000000;"|11
|style="background:#6b49c8;color:#000000;"|11
|style="background:#6b49c8;color:#000000;"|11
|style="background:#6b49c8;color:#000000;"|11
|style="background:#d8001d;color:#000000;"|10
|style="background:#d8001d;color:#000000;"|9
|style="background:#f85900;color:#000000;"|7
|style="background:#f85900;color:#000000;"|6
|style="background:#d8001d;color:#000000;border-left-width:medium"|9.3
|-
!Colspan=14 style="background:#f8f9fa;font-weight:normal;font-size:95%;"|Source: Weather Atlas<ref name="Weather Atlas">{{cite web |url=https://www.weather-us.com/en/florida-usa/key-west-climate |title=Key West, Florida, USA – Monthly weather forecast and Climate data |publisher=Weather Atlas |access-date=4 February 2019 }}</ref>
|}

{{Graph:Weather monthly history
| table=Ncei.noaa.gov/weather/Key West.tab
| title=Key West monthly weather statistics
}}