Fort Lauderdale in September: Weather, Sea Temperature and Hurricane Season

FORT LAUDERDALE · SEPTEMBER · 26.1° N

September holds the Atlantic off Fort Lauderdale at an average 87.7°F and the air at an average high of 88.3°F, which is as close as this coast comes to swimming in its own bathwater. It is also the month NOAA’s National Hurricane Center marks as the climatological peak of the Atlantic season, September 10, in the middle of the mid-August to mid-October stretch that carries most of the activity.

Against that, 8.02 inches of rain fall in an average September, spread across 10.8 days that record at least a tenth of an inch and 2.9 that record an inch or more. Four weeks later October brings the wet-day count down to 7.9 and the sea down to 84.5°F. The choice between the two comes down to whether you came for the water or for a plan that holds. The state-wide case sits in Florida’s twelve-month view.

On this page

• Fort Lauderdale weather in SeptemberHighs of 88.3°F and 10.8 wet days
• Sea temperature in September87.7°F, and what that feels like
• Crowds, booking and the lodging taxThe 6.0% county tax and the cancellation rule
• Things to do in SeptemberThree state parks with beach and boardwalk
• A two-day plan around the heatHour by hour, from the 7:05 a.m. sunrise
• September against August and OctoberHow the three months compare
• Is September a good month to come?Who should book and who should shift
• Where else in Florida this monthFlorida month by month

Getting here is rarely the hard part. FLL boarded 17,096,131 passengers in calendar year 2024, which the FAA classes a large hub, and the terminal sits about three miles inland from the sand. What September decides is the shape of your days once you land, and whether the rate you booked can be canceled. Flight patterns and airport choices belong to the Florida flights guide.

Fort Lauderdale weather in September: average highs, lows and rain days

The normals below come from one thermometer rather than a grid cell: NOAA station USW00012849, listed as FT LAUDERDALE HOLLYWOOD AP, whose gauge sits at the airport about three miles inland from the sand. Over the 1991-2020 period that station records a September average high of 88.3°F, an average low of 77.1°F and 8.02 inches of precipitation. A reanalysis of a grid cell would hand you different lows for the same month, which is why the station name matters as much as the figure.

Ten point eight days record at least a tenth of an inch, so roughly one day in three arrives with rain you can measure, and 2.9 of them record an inch or more. Neither count says when the water falls. A tenth of an inch can arrive as one short downpour and be dry underfoot by dinner. The inch days are the ones that rearrange an afternoon, and there are about three of them in the month.

Between the 88.3°F afternoon and the 77.1°F night there are 11.2 degrees, and none of them are cold. Nothing warm needs to go in the bag for the outdoors. What does earn its place: a rain shell light enough to wear at 80 degrees, a second set of quick-dry clothes for the inch days, and a long-sleeve layer for restaurants and rental cars, where the air conditioning is the only real temperature swing of the trip.

On September 15 the sun rises at 7:05 a.m. and sets at 7:25 p.m. local time, converted from the 11:05 and 23:25 UTC readings, for 12 hours 20 minutes of daylight. That leaves a usable swim before 8 a.m. and a second one after 5, with the hottest stretch in between belonging to whatever has a roof.

Can you swim in Fort Lauderdale in September? Sea temperature and what the water feels like

The sea surface off Fort Lauderdale averages 87.7°F in September, taken from the Open-Meteo Marine API as the mean of daily maxima over 2015-2024. That method matters: a daily maximum is the warm end of each day’s cycle, so the figure runs a shade above what a 24-hour mean would give, and it comes from a different source and a different period than the NOAA air normals above it.

In practice you walk in without a flinch and stay as long as you like. Compare the two numbers on this month’s own line: the water at 87.7°F is more than ten degrees warmer than the 77.1°F average night air, so at dawn the sea is the warmest thing on the beach. Water that warm does not cool you down either, which turns a long swim into something you drink water after, not a way to beat the 88.3°F afternoon.

On wind and swell we have nothing to give: no wave or wind series for this stretch of coast could be read, so no number goes here. What is documented is the calendar around the water. The Atlantic season runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks on September 10, which makes the daily flag and lifeguard call worth reading before a swim. General water-safety ground is covered in the Florida safety guide.

How busy is Fort Lauderdale in September? Crowds, prices and the county lodging tax

September falls inside the stretch the National Hurricane Center calls the season’s most active, mid-August to mid-October, with the climatological peak on September 10. We could not read a monthly hotel rate series for Broward County, so we will not rank September against the other eleven months on price. The calendar fact stands on its own: the month sits in the middle of the storm window, and that window does not close until November 30.

Book the room you can cancel, and read the Hurricane Center’s outlook in the week before you fly rather than the month before. Seat supply is not the constraint at a large hub that boarded more than 17 million passengers in 2024. For what the rest of a Florida week runs, tier by tier, our cost breakdown does the arithmetic.

Broward County levies a 6.0% transient rental tax on short stays, filed and paid with the 6% state sales tax on the same Florida Department of Revenue form, DR-15TDT. That is 12% on the room rate in September exactly as in February. Parking charges and resort fees sit on top, and those we could not read property by property, so no figure for them is offered.

A room two minutes from the water buys two swims a day in September; an inland room buys one. At an average high of 88.3°F, the midday crossing is the piece of the plan people quietly drop, and the 7:05 a.m. swim only happens when it costs nothing but a flight of stairs. The where-to-stay guide sorts Florida bases on that same logic.

Things to do in Fort Lauderdale in September: Hugh Taylor Birch, Mizell-Johnson and Oleta River

What this month gives that the dry season cannot is water you can stay in for an hour without thinking about it. At 87.7°F nobody needs a wetsuit at 7 a.m., and a paddle at first light is a comfort rather than a dare. October takes 3.2°F back off that reading, and once the water cools the state’s best arguments move inland to wildlife, where the Everglades come into their own.

Three state parks hold the shoreline and the bay side. Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park is counted by the state at 2.2 miles of beach, 1,410 parking spaces, 4,531 feet of boardwalk, 2.6 miles of hiking trail and one designated swimming area. Hugh Taylor Birch State Park counts 275 parking spaces, 0.1 miles of beach, 0.3 miles of trail, 60 feet of boardwalk and one canoe, kayak and tube launch. Oleta River State Park, on the bay rather than the ocean, counts 925 parking spaces, 0.3 miles of beach and two launches.

Those counts hold all year; the air does not. The gap between a September afternoon at 88.3°F and an October one at 85.4°F decides whether the 2.6 miles of trail at Mizell-Johnson happen at 8 a.m. or at 11. Sixty feet of boardwalk at Hugh Taylor Birch will tire nobody in any month. Off both beaches, the water falls 3.2°F between September and October, slightly faster than the 2.9°F the air loses.

None of the three parks comes with a price we can quote. Entrance fees and opening hours were unreadable when we checked on September 11, 2026, and Broward County Transit’s fare pages render only in a browser, so no dollar figure for a gate or a bus ride appears here. Call the parks before you drive. What September hands out at no charge is 12 hours 20 minutes of daylight on the 15th, beginning at 7:05 a.m.

Fort Lauderdale in September: a two-day itinerary

Day one opens at the 7:05 a.m. sunrise, when the 87.7°F sea is warmer than the night air that just ended at 77.1°F. Swim first and eat after. From 8 to 11, Mizell-Johnson’s 2.2 miles of beach and 4,531 feet of boardwalk take the cool end of the day, with 1,410 spaces meaning parking is not the morning’s problem. Go indoors from noon to 4 while the 88.3°F average does its work, swim again at 5, and hold the sand until the 7:25 p.m. sunset.

Day two moves to the bay side and Oleta River’s two canoe, kayak and tube launches, early again, then the short beach and 0.3 miles of trail at Hugh Taylor Birch in the late afternoon. If the sky turns, keep the month’s shape in mind: 10.8 days record measurable rain but only 2.9 record a full inch, so the usual correction is an hour, not a day. When the inch is genuinely falling, Brightline links the city to Miami for an indoor afternoon.

Fort Lauderdale in September vs August and October

Air figures for all three months come from the same NOAA station and the same 1991-2020 normals. The sea column comes from the Open-Meteo Marine API, averaged over 2015-2024 as daily maxima, so it should not be read as part of the same record. August runs hotter at 90.0°F and wetter by day count at 11.2, with the warmest water of the three at 88.2°F. October cools the afternoon to 85.4°F, the water to 84.5°F, and cuts the wet days to 7.9.

Shift four weeks forward and you trade 3.2°F of sea warmth for nearly three fewer wet days and an afternoon 2.9 degrees cooler. Shift four weeks back and August returns 0.5°F to the water, adds 0.4 of a wet day and puts the afternoon at 90.0°F. The season does not close until November 30, so neither move takes you out of the window. October’s full month is laid out in our October guide.

Is September a good time to visit Fort Lauderdale?

Yes, if you swim. An 87.7°F sea, a 7:25 p.m. sunset and 10.8 rain days out of thirty leave plenty of dry hours for a water-shaped week, provided the booking can be canceled. No, if the dates are locked and non-refundable, or if a washed-out afternoon ruins the day: 2.9 days deliver an inch or more, and September 10 is the statistical peak of the Atlantic season.

If that lands as a no, take October. Same coast, nearly three fewer wet days (7.9 against 10.8), an afternoon at 85.4°F instead of 88.3, and a sea still at 84.5°F. The one thing October does not give back is the storm calendar, which stays open through November 30 whichever month you pick.

Among the three months, September alone holds a sea within half a degree of August’s warmest reading while the wet-day count has already begun to fall.

The last word

Decide the cancellation terms first and the beach second, then let the 7:05 a.m. sunrise do the planning: the water is warmer than the air at that hour and the boardwalks are empty of their afternoon heat. One option nobody thinks of in a metro area of this size: Oleta River State Park holds 14 cabins on the bay, alongside its 925 parking spaces and two launches, which puts a state park within reach of a city dinner.

Sources & data for this guide

• September, August and October air normals: highs, lows, precipitation and wet-day counts · NOAA NCEI monthly normals 1991-2020, station USW00012849, FT LAUDERDALE HOLLYWOOD AP · checked Sep 13, 2026
• Station identity and position, roughly three miles inland from the sand · NOAA NCEI station search · checked Sep 13, 2026
• Sea surface at 87.7°F in September, 88.2°F in August, 84.5°F in October, as means of daily maxima 2015-2024 · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 13, 2026
• Sunrise 7:05 a.m., sunset 7:25 p.m. and 12 h 20 min of daylight on September 15, converted from 11:05 and 23:25 UTC · sunrise-sunset.org · checked Sep 13, 2026
• Atlantic hurricane season dates and the September 10 climatological peak · NOAA National Hurricane Center · checked Sep 13, 2026
• Broward County 6.0% transient rental tax, filed with the 6% state sales tax · Florida Department of Revenue, form DR-15TDT · checked Sep 13, 2026
• Parking spaces, beach mileage, trails, boardwalk, launches and cabins at Mizell-Johnson, Hugh Taylor Birch and Oleta River · Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Recreational Facilities Inventory, 2024 annual report · checked Sep 13, 2026
• FLL boardings, 17,096,131 in calendar year 2024, large hub classification · Federal Aviation Administration · checked Sep 13, 2026
• What we could not read: no park entrance fee, no park opening hour and no bus or train fare. Operator pages either returned errors or rendered only in a browser on Sep 11, 2026. No amount was invented to fill the gap.