WEKIWA SPRINGS · SEPTEMBER · THE MONTH GUIDE
Two temperatures decide a September day at Wekiwa Springs, and they sit 14.0°F apart. The air above the park still behaves like summer: an average high of 89.6°F and an average low of 72.4°F in the 1991-2020 normals. The spring underneath runs its own program. A U.S. Geological Survey gauge in the spring run read 75.6°F (24.2°C) on September 11, 2026, cool enough to catch your breath and never cold enough to keep you out.
September takes a little off August: 2.0°F off the average high, 1.32 inches off the monthly rain total, 2.3 fewer days with measurable rain. It does not touch the crowd lever. The state counts 325 parking spaces at Wekiwa Springs State Park, and when the lot fills the gate closes, on a clear Saturday as surely as on a stormy one.
THE MONTH AT A GLANCE · WEKIWA SPRINGS · SEPTEMBER
September keeps full swimming weather with slightly less rain than August: come for the water, arrive before the 325-space lot fills, and treat the afternoon as storm time.
AIR 89.6°F · SPRING 75.6°F · 9.2 WET DAYS · 12 H 22 MIN OF DAYLIGHT
Go for: swimming and paddling in water that ignores the calendar, 15.9 miles of paddling trail, and rain that has already backed off August’s 11.5 wet days.
Think twice before: planning long afternoon hikes: the average high is 89.6°F and 1.8 days in a normal September drop an inch of rain or more.
Air: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 · Water: USGS gauge 02234600 · Facilities: Florida DEP 2024 inventory · full sources at the end
On this page
- Wekiwa Springs weather in SeptemberHighs of 89.6°F, 6.37 inches, 9.2 wet days
- Water temperature at the spring75.6°F on the USGS gauge
- How busy the park gets325 parking spaces and what we could not price
- Things to do in SeptemberOne swim area, 15.9 miles of paddling trail
- A two-day plan for the monthFrom 7:09 a.m. to 7:31 p.m.
- September vs August and OctoberHow the three months compare, in figures
- Is September a good month to go?Our verdict for swimmers and for hikers
Everything here is dated to the month. For the park year-round, its trails and its setup, start with our Wekiwa Springs guide, and for the month before, see August. One caveat travels with the normals below: the thermometer is not at the spring.
Wekiwa Springs weather in September: average highs, lows and rain days
| September measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Average high | 89.6°F |
| Average low | 72.4°F |
| Monthly precipitation | 6.37 in |
| Days with 0.10 in or more | 9.2 |
| Days with 1 in or more | 1.8 |
| Daylight on September 15 | 12 h 22 min |
The air figures come from a real thermometer, not from a model grid cell: NOAA NCEI monthly normals for 1991-2020, station USW00012815 at Orlando International Airport, about 27 miles from the spring. That distance matters twice. It puts the reading over an airfield rather than under cypress shade, and every figure here describes the air. The water has no season, so no normal in this table applies to what you swim in.
Rain reaches 6.37 inches across the month, spread over 9.2 days that record at least a tenth of an inch: measurable rain roughly three days in ten. Nearly two days a month deliver an inch or more, and those are the ones that clear a swim area. Florida’s wet-season storms are an afternoon habit rather than an all-day event, a pattern our state guide takes from the National Weather Service.
Between the 89.6°F high and the 72.4°F low sits a spread of 17.2°F, which is small by inland standards and means the night never really cools the day off. Pack for humidity rather than for cold: a dry shirt for the drive home, a towel that actually dries, a light rain shell instead of an umbrella. Nothing in this month asks for a jacket.
On September 15 the day runs 12 hours 22 minutes, sunrise at 7:09 a.m. and sunset at 7:31 p.m. local time. That is a generous evening by the standards of the months ahead, and it is why a late paddle still works: you can leave the water at six and still walk a trail in daylight.
How warm is Wekiwa Springs in September?
Air first: 89.6°F by day, 72.4°F at night on the 1991-2020 normals, 17.2°F apart. Water next, and it is the number people arrive for. The USGS gauge at station 02234600 read 75.6°F (24.2°C) on September 11, 2026. Treat that as a spot reading from one day rather than a monthly average of daily maxima: the gauge sits in the spring run and reads close to that figure every day of the year, which is the whole point of a first-magnitude spring.
In practice, the 14.0°F gap between a 89.6°F afternoon and 75.6°F water is what makes the first thirty seconds startling and the next thirty minutes perfect. Mornings near 72.4°F call for a shirt you do not mind sweating through; by two in the afternoon the water is the only comfortable place in the park. Bring more drinking water than feels reasonable and a hat with a brim.
Freezing nights play no part in this month. We could not verify a count of nights at or below 32°F for the station, and with a normal low of 72.4°F the question does not arise until much later in the calendar. If you want the cold-weather version of central Florida’s springs, that story belongs to the manatee months in our manatee guide.
How busy is Wekiwa Springs in September? Crowds, prices and the demand peak
We found no occupancy series and no monthly room-rate series for this corner of central Florida, so we crown no month cheap and no month expensive. What is dated is the storm calendar: the Atlantic hurricane season runs through September, and our Florida calendar carries the NOAA dates. Refundable rates are worth their premium in this window, whatever the base price turns out to be.
The reservation that decides your day is not a hotel anyway. It is a parking space, and there are 325 of them. The lot is the gate: when it is full, the park stops admitting cars, and no arrival time later in the morning negotiates that away. Weekends go first. For where to sleep within striking distance, our lodging guide covers the Orlando side.
On money, we are short of what we would like. We could not verify a lodging-tax rate for the county, so no percentage appears, and we could not read the park’s entrance fee or its opening hours either: the Florida State Parks site turns away automated reads. Budget shape for the wider trip lives in our Florida cost guide.
One outlay does change the month, and it is the bed. A room close enough to put you at the gate early buys you the swim area before the heat and the lot before it fills, which is worth more in September than any upgrade inside the park. Getting there is a car job, as our getting-around guide explains.
Things to do in Wekiwa Springs in September
September is the last full month of swim-first weather with the rain already easing. Against August, it gives up 2.0°F of heat and 2.3 wet days; against October, it keeps 4.9°F of afternoon warmth over water that has not moved an inch on the dial. That contrast is the month’s argument: you get October’s calmer rain curve nowhere near, but you still get the sweat that makes 75.6°F feel like a reward.
The state’s 2024 facilities inventory counts what the park actually holds: 1 designated swimming area, 1 canoe, kayak and tube launch, 15.9 miles of paddling trail, 13.7 miles of hiking trail and 1,435 feet of boardwalk, served by those 325 parking spaces. One swim area for a park this size is the figure to hold on to when you plan your arrival time.
September changes none of that water and all of the air around it. The boardwalk and the hiking miles that feel pleasant in the 84.7°F of October are hot work at 89.6°F, so they belong to the first two hours of the day or the last two. Paddling upstream in shade is the middle-ground activity, and it puts you next to the coolest thing in the county. Lightning is the one hard stop: our safety guide has the rule.
We cannot tell you what is free here, because we could not verify the entrance fee or the hours. One thing the state publishes plainly: Florida Statutes 373.802(5) names Wekiwa outright as an Outstanding Florida Spring, alongside De Leon, Peacock, Poe, Rock Springs and Gemini. The state protected it by name rather than waiting for it to qualify by size.
Wekiwa Springs in September: a two-day itinerary
Day one begins at the lot. Sunrise on September 15 is 7:09 a.m., and with 325 spaces to go around, early arrival is the plan rather than a preference. Swim first, while the air is nearer its 72.4°F low and the single swim area is quiet. Mid-morning, take the launch upstream: an hour of the 15.9-mile paddling trail is plenty. Be out of the boat by one, when the air runs closest to 89.6°F, and eat in the shade.
Day two takes the 13.7 miles of hiking trail early, then the 1,435 feet of boardwalk before the heat stacks up. Rain falls on 9.2 days in a normal September, mostly as an afternoon build rather than a dawn drizzle, so the morning half of this plan survives most weather. If the sky turns, the spring is still 75.6°F underneath it, and Orlando’s indoor options are a short drive: our things-to-do guide lists them. Daylight holds until 7:31 p.m.
Wekiwa Springs in September vs August and October
| Measure | August | September | October |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average high | 91.6°F | 89.6°F | 84.7°F |
| Average low | 73.7°F | 72.4°F | 66.2°F |
| Precipitation | 7.69 in | 6.37 in | 3.46 in |
| Days with 0.10 in or more | 11.5 | 9.2 | 5.3 |
| Spring water | About 75.6°F | About 75.6°F | About 75.6°F |
All three columns come from the same NOAA station and the same 1991-2020 period, so the gaps are real. September sits 2.0°F below August on highs and 4.9°F above October. Rain runs 1.32 inches lighter than August and 2.91 inches heavier than October, with wet days at 9.2 against 11.5 and 5.3. The water line never moves, and that is what makes the air line the whole comparison.
Shift four weeks later and you gain 3.9 drier days, which turns the 13.7 miles of hiking trail from a dawn errand into an all-day option. You lose the heat that makes a 75.6°F spring feel generous: at an 84.7°F high, the gap narrows to 9.1°F and the swim becomes a decision rather than a relief. Shift four weeks earlier, to August, and you trade 2.3 extra wet days for the year’s most welcome plunge.
Is September a good time to visit Wekiwa Springs?
Yes, if the water is the reason you are coming and you can be at the gate by mid-morning. Swimmers, paddlers and families with a tolerance for an early alarm get a full summer month with slightly less rain than August. No, if your plan is a long dry hike or an afternoon of open-air sightseeing: at 89.6°F with storms on nearly a third of the days, that plan will be rewritten for you.
If the answer for you is no, October is the fix, and the figures say why: 3.46 inches of rain instead of 6.37, 5.3 wet days instead of 9.2, and highs of 84.7°F that make the boardwalk and the trail network comfortable in the middle of the day. Accept in exchange that the spring will feel cooler, because the air no longer does the work.
September’s particular offer is this: it is the last month that pairs full summer air over a 75.6°F spring with a rain curve already heading down from August’s 11.5 wet days.
The last word
Decide one thing before you book anything else, and it is your arrival time. The 325 spaces are the only quota in this month, and they close the park for people who slept in. Everything else here is forgiving: the water stays 75.6°F whatever the forecast says, the storms wait for the afternoon, and the light holds until 7:31 p.m. Come back in October if you want the nights, which average 66.2°F, a full 6.2°F below September’s, and turn the walk back to the car into a pleasure rather than a sweat.
Sources & data for this guide
- September air normals (89.6°F / 72.4°F, 6.37 in, 9.2 and 1.8 rain days) · NOAA NCEI monthly normals 1991-2020, station USW00012815, Orlando Intl AP, about 27 miles from the spring · checked Sep 24, 2026
- August and October normals used in the comparison · same NOAA station and same 1991-2020 period, not estimates · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Daylight, sunrise 7:09 a.m. and sunset 7:31 p.m. on September 15 · sunrise-sunset.org, converted to local time · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Water at 75.6°F (24.2°C) · U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System, station 02234600 Wekiwa Springs, instantaneous reading · checked Sep 24, 2026
- 325 parking spaces, 1 swimming area, 1 launch, 15.9 miles of paddling trail, 13.7 miles of hiking trail, 1,435 feet of boardwalk · Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Recreational Facilities Inventory 2024 · checked Sep 24, 2026
- Outstanding Florida Spring definition and the six named springs · Florida Statutes 373.802(5) · checked Sep 24, 2026
- What we could not verify, and why: floridastateparks.org returns 403 to automated reads, so we have no entrance fee and no opening hours; we found no manatee count, no occupancy series and no lodging-tax rate · Sep 11, 2026
To plan your stay
- Best Time to Visit Wekiwa Springs: Monthly Weather, the Swimming Season and the Quiet Months
- Wekiwa Springs in August: Water Temperature, Rain Days and Parking
- Wekiwa Springs in October: Water Temperature, Rain Days and Parking
- Wekiwa Springs in July: Weather, Crowds, Water Temperature and a Two-Day Plan