It's never reached 100 degrees in Naples. Weather expert explains why

Note to our audience: With the recent severe heat in Southwest Florida, we are republishing this story from July 2025 about why Naples has never reached the 100-degree mark, according to National Weather Service records.

The fact that Naples has never officially reached a high daily temperature of 100 degrees is mind-boggling.

Should it be?

You would think because Florida, and because intense summer heat in the Sunshine State, and because lots of other places in Florida have a history of eclipsing the 100-degree mark, Naples would be in that meteorological bucket as well.

In 2025, Naples tied a record for its second hottest temperature on record when the thermometer at the Naples Airport reached 98 degrees, on July 27, just one degree short of the all-time hottest day ever recorded there − 99 degrees on Sept. 1, 1986, the one and only time that has ever happened.

On that same day and about two hours north of Naples, one of Florida's biggest cities, Tampa, saw 139 years pass by before recording its first ever 100 degree day.

From the archives: Cooling off on a hot day

What's stopping Naples from hitting 100 degrees?

Last July when it was broiling in SW Florida similar to what's happening now, we reached out the National Weather Service in Miami and asked what factor or factors are causing the temperature to have never hit triple digits in Naples.

There have been numerous heat advisories issued in recent days and weeks.

According to Sammy Hadi at the NWS-Miami, the explanation can be divided it into two important parts: geographical and atmospheric.

"A combination of ingredients came together yesterday (July 27, 2025) which resulted in temperatures well above normal," Hadi said. "A residual amount of Saharan Dust over the region combined with mid-level ridging (sinking air) prevented cloud cover (and shower/thunderstorm chances), allowing for ample sunshine all morning and afternoon which allowed for temperatures to quickly heat up and remain elevated even into the early evening hours."

What else?

"Combined with relatively strong enough east north-east surface flow resulted in air heated over inland South Florida to continue pushing across the region without the development of a gulf breeze," he said. "So in simple terms, no rain or cloud cover + ample sunshine + the lack of winds veering onshore off of the Gulf at any point in the day set the stage for temperatures to reach record values."

Hadi added that during the summer-time, the weather here is dictated by daily sea-breeze and land-breeze patterns. During the day, low pressure develops over land as it heats up faster than the nearby ocean with high pressure developing over the relatively cooler waters. At night, the inverse occurs with low pressure setting up over water and high pressure setting up over land as the land cools faster than the ocean.

"Air flows from high to low pressure, and that is why we often see sea-breeze (in this case "gulf breeze") circulations push inland from the coast during the late morning and early afternoon hours," Hadi said. "However on days like yesterday that featured strong east-northeast flow, the gulf breeze can remain directly along the coast (pinned) and fail to push inland ... preventing any of the cooled oceanic air to move inland."

Combined with the ingredients Hadi listed above, he said it sets the stage for well above average temperatures.

What does geography have to do with air temperature?

The fact that weather observations are made at the Naples Municipal Airport is one of the factors to consider, Hadi said.

"As you can see from the google maps image above, the airport is located very close to the Gulf which tends to moderate temperatures compared to locations further inland," Hadi said.

"When comparing KAPF (Naples Airport) to KFMY (Page Field in Fort Myers), you can see just how much further inland FMY is to APF. So in this case, there is also a geographical explanation to why APF has never officially hit 100."

Regarding the possibility of other locations in the Naples area reaching100 degrees but not being recorded, Hadi said:

"Given that the airfield officially recorded 98F ... it is certainly plausible that isolated locations further inland (east) in the Naples metro did reach 100."

What's 2026 looking like so far?

So far, in July (as of July 9), the hottest temperature has occurred on back-to-back days, also 95 degrees, on July 8 and July 9.

In June, the hottest temperature recorded at the Naples Airport was 95 degrees on June 2, June 15 and 16.

And there were two days in May (May 14 and May 31) when it hit 95 degrees at the airport.

Did you know?

The hottest temperature ever recorded in Florida is 109 degrees on June 29, 1931 in Monticello, which is in Jefferson County, east of Tallahassee.

Mark H. Bickel is the Audience Development Director for The News-Press & Naples Daily News. Reach him by emailing mbickel@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: It's never reached 100 degrees in Naples. Weather expert explains why

Reporting by Mark H. Bickel, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Naples Daily News

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This story was originally published July 10, 2026 at 6:58 AM.