Fort Lauderdale in November: Weather, Sea Temperature, Crowds and What Changes by December

FORT LAUDERDALE · NOVEMBER · 26.1° N

November is when the Fort Lauderdale numbers stop looking like summer. The gauge at the airport averages a high of 80.8°F and a low of 68.3°F, rainfall comes in at 3.69 inches against October’s 7.37, and the ocean off the beach still reads 82.1°F. Daylight is the cost: 10 hours 54 minutes on November 15, with the sun down at 5:32 p.m.

Hurricane season does not close until November 30, so the month sits inside NOAA’s window even if most Atlantic activity falls between mid-August and mid-October. For a trip built around water and walking, that leaves a workable trade: 3.68 inches less rain than October, measurable rain about one day in six instead of one day in four, and swim temperatures that have barely moved. Flights are plentiful, too. FLL boarded 17,096,131 passengers in 2024, which the FAA counts as a large hub.

On this page

• Average highs, lows and rain days in November80.8°F days, 68.3°F nights, 4.8 wet days
• Sea temperature in November82.1°F, and what the figure measures
• Crowds, booking weeks and the Broward lodging tax6% county tax plus 6% state
• Things to do in NovemberMizell-Johnson, Hugh Taylor Birch, Oleta River
• A two-day plan around a 5:32 p.m. sunsetThe two-day itinerary, hour by hour
• November vs October and DecemberHow the three months compare
• Is November a good time to visit?Yes for swimmers, with two caveats

Fort Lauderdale’s whole year and the state’s season map live elsewhere: the best-time guide sets the dry season against the wet one, and the cost guide handles the budget layers. The normals below are dated, measured at a single station, and lined up against the two months on either side.

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

Every figure here for air temperature comes from one thermometer rather than a grid cell: NOAA station USW00012849, listed as FT LAUDERDALE HOLLYWOOD AP, whose 1991-2020 monthly normals give November an average high of 80.8°F, an average low of 68.3°F and 3.69 inches of rain. The gauge sits at the airport, roughly three miles inland from the sand, so treat those as airport readings and not as beachfront conditions.

An average November records 4.8 days with at least 0.10 inch, which works out to measurable rain about one day in six, and 0.9 day with an inch or more, so a real soaking lands roughly once in the month. Spread the 3.69 inches over those 4.8 days and the typical wet day carries about 0.77 inch. In practice that is an interruption of an afternoon, not the loss of one.

The day-to-night spread is 12.5°F, from an 80.8°F high to a 68.3°F low. Packing follows the arithmetic: shorts and two swimsuits for the daytime, one long sleeve for dinner, and nothing heavier. Nights at 68.3°F are the coolest thing about the month, and they arrive early.

On November 15 the sun rises at 6:38 a.m. and sets at 5:32 p.m. local time, for 10 hours 54 minutes of daylight. That timetable rearranges a beach day more than the temperature does: last light on the water comes before six, and anything you wanted to do outdoors after dinner belongs to a different month. Driving distances on a short day are the subject of our getting-around guide.

Can you swim in Fort Lauderdale in November? Sea temperature and what it feels like

Sea surface off Fort Lauderdale averages 82.1°F in November, from the Open-Meteo Marine API across 2015 to 2024. One qualifier travels with the number: it is the mean of daily maxima, not a 24-hour average, so it reads a shade warmer than tables built on full-day means. Expect other sources to print something slightly lower for the same four weeks.

At 82.1°F there is no flinch at the entry and no hurry to get out, and a snorkel session needs no wetsuit for most swimmers (est.). Against the neighbors, November’s water sits 2.4°F under October’s 84.5°F and 2.8°F above December’s 79.3°F, putting the month closer to October than to December on the one measure that matters to a swimmer.

We could not source a wind or swell normal for Fort Lauderdale in November, so nothing here describes the surf. The tropical calendar is documented: NOAA’s National Hurricane Center runs the Atlantic season from June 1 to November 30, with the peak on September 10 and most activity between mid-August and mid-October. Check the center’s outlook in the week before you fly, and keep the room refundable.

How busy is Fort Lauderdale in November? Crowds, prices and the demand peak

Two calendars overlap in these four weeks. Florida’s dry season opens in November, and the hurricane season closes on November 30, so the month carries the first settled beach weather of the winter. Holiday weeks are the state’s demand peaks, and the last week of November holds one of them. The first half of the month sits ahead of that curve.

Booking splits along the same line. Treat the holiday week as a separate trip and lock it several months out, and give the first two weeks a few weeks’ notice (est.). Where you sleep is the bigger lever than when you click: the barrier island, the downtown side of the Intracoastal and the beach towns north and south each behave differently, and the where-to-stay guide sorts them.

Broward County levies a 6.0% transient rental tax on short stays, filed and paid alongside the 6% state sales tax, per the Florida Department of Revenue’s form DR-15TDT. That is 12% added to the room rate before anything a property charges on top. We could not read resort fee or parking amounts for Fort Lauderdale hotels, so no figure for either appears here.

One budget line genuinely changes the month: a bed within walking distance of the sand. With the light gone at 5:32 p.m., the gap between a five-minute walk and a fifteen-minute drive is the last swim of the day. Two amounts stayed out of reach on September 11, 2026: Broward County Transit’s fares, whose page renders only in a browser, and the county’s other operator pages. Budget for a rental car and price the rest with the cost guide.

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

Of the three months here, November is the one where a trail day and a swim day can be the same day. October puts 7.37 inches and 7.9 wet days in the way of more afternoons, and December drops the air 3.1°F and the water to 79.3°F. An 80.8°F average high over an 82.1°F ocean carries both halves of the plan without a compromise.

Three state parks anchor the month, and Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection counts what is in them. Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park holds 1,410 parking spaces, 2.2 miles of beach, one designated swimming area, 2.6 miles of hiking trail and 4,531 feet of boardwalk. Hugh Taylor Birch State Park is the small one: 275 spaces, 0.1 mile of beach, 0.3 mile of trail, 60 feet of boardwalk, one canoe, kayak and tube launch. Oleta River State Park, on the bay, counts 925 spaces, 0.3 mile of beach, two launches and 14 cabins.

What November changes at those addresses is the air, not the water. The swim areas track an ocean that gives up only 2.4°F between October and November, while the air comes down 4.6°F from October’s 85.4°F and the rain drops by half. Mizell-Johnson’s 2.6 miles of trail and Hugh Taylor Birch’s shaded loop become midday propositions instead of early-morning ones, and that gap is the whole season.

Nothing in this section is called free, and that reflects our reading rather than the parks: on September 11, 2026 the entrance fee and opening hour pages for all three refused a machine read, so no amount and no hour is quoted. Bring a card for the gate. What the state does publish is capacity, and it points one way for a Saturday: 1,410 parking spaces at Mizell-Johnson against 275 at Hugh Taylor Birch.

Fort Lauderdale in November: a two-day itinerary

Day one starts at the 6:38 a.m. sunrise. Walk the 2.2 miles of beach at Mizell-Johnson while the air is well under the day’s 80.8°F high, swim around ten with the water at 82.1°F, then eat indoors through the hottest stretch after noon. The park’s 2.6 miles of hiking trail hold up at 2 p.m. in this month, and the swim area is worth a second visit by 4:30. Sunset falls at 5:32 p.m. on November 15, so dinner happens after dark: keep one long sleeve out for a 68.3°F night.

Day two goes on the water. Hugh Taylor Birch has one canoe, kayak and tube launch and 275 parking spaces a short walk from the ocean; Oleta River, on the bay side, has two launches and 925 spaces. If a band moves through, remember the shape of an average wet day here, about 0.77 inch, and move the afternoon indoors in Miami rather than abandoning the day. Save the dry-season wildlife morning in the Everglades for the clear sky.

Fort Lauderdale in November vs October and December

Set the three side by side and November lands between them without being the middle of everything. Its 80.8°F high runs 4.6°F under October and 3.1°F over December. Rain is where the month separates itself: 3.69 inches against October’s 7.37, and 4.8 measurable days against 7.9. The water is the outlier, holding within 2.4°F of October’s 84.5°F while December slides to 79.3°F.

Shift four weeks later and you trade 2.8°F of water and 3.1°F of daytime air for 0.6 fewer wet days and a hurricane season already closed on November 30. Shift four weeks earlier and the ocean gains 2.4°F while the rain doubles and three more wet days come with it. Each of those months has its own page: October and December.

Is November a good time to visit Fort Lauderdale?

Yes, if the ocean is the reason for the trip. Water at 82.1°F with 3.69 inches of rain across the month is the strongest pairing of these three months, and 80.8°F days let a trail and a swim share an afternoon. No, if the trip needs long evenings or a booking that cannot move: the light ends at 5:32 p.m., and the Atlantic season stays open until November 30.

When it is a no, December is the swap. You get 77.7°F days, 2.78 inches of rain across 4.2 wet days and no open hurricane season, at the price of a 79.3°F ocean and 64.7°F nights. Readers who rank water above everything go the other way, to October’s 84.5°F, and accept 7.37 inches of rain and 7.9 wet days for it.

No other month here keeps the ocean within 2.4°F of its October reading while cutting October’s rainfall in half.

The last word

The call comes down to one question: swim or evening. If the swim wins, November holds the water at 82.1°F, halves October’s rain and asks only that you eat after dark. One sleeping option sits inside the metro area and rarely makes a Fort Lauderdale list: Oleta River State Park counts 14 cabins, on the bay side rather than the ocean, alongside its two paddle launches. Its nightly rate is among the numbers we could not read, so call the park before counting on it.

Sources & data for this guide

• November, October and December normals (highs, lows, precipitation, wet days) · NOAA NCEI monthly normals 1991-2020, station USW00012849 · checked Sep 12, 2026
• Station identity and airport location · NOAA NCEI Search service, “FT LAUDERDALE HOLLYWOOD AP” · checked Sep 12, 2026
• Sea surface 82.1°F (Nov), 84.5°F (Oct), 79.3°F (Dec), mean of daily maxima 2015-2024 · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 12, 2026
• Daylight, sunrise and sunset for November 15 · sunrise-sunset.org, converted to America/New_York · checked Sep 12, 2026
• Atlantic hurricane season dates and September 10 peak · NOAA National Hurricane Center · checked Sep 12, 2026
• Broward County 6.0% transient rental tax and 6% state sales tax · Florida Department of Revenue, form DR-15TDT · checked Sep 12, 2026
• Parking spaces, beach and trail mileage, 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 12, 2026
• FLL passenger boardings for CY2024 and large-hub classification · Federal Aviation Administration · checked Sep 12, 2026
• Editorial admission: no transit fare, park entrance fee or opening hour could be read on Sep 11, 2026 (the county transit fare page renders only in a browser, the park fee pages refused a machine read). No amount was invented to fill those gaps.