Naples weather by month: what NOAA normals mean for your golf

Naples weather by month runs from about 75F highs and 56F lows in January to about 91F and 76F in July and August. November to April is dry, with 4 to 6 rain days a month; June to September brings 15 to 19 rain days and afternoon thunderstorms. For golf, that means winter rounds any time of day, and summer rounds at dawn.

This guide turns the NOAA 1991-2020 climate normals into plain golf advice, comparing the coastal Naples station with RSW airport inland near Fort Myers and Estero. Both stations were queried on November 3, 2026. The figures are long-term averages, so any given week can be warmer, cooler or wetter.

Quick facts

• Coolest month: January, about 74.8F / 55.9F at Naples.
• Hottest months: July and August, about 91F by day.
• Driest months: December (1.32 in), November (1.39 in) and February (1.40 in).
• Wettest month: August at Naples (8.89 in); June at RSW (10.33 in).
• Annual rain: about 49.6 inches at Naples, 53.4 at RSW.
• Wind: about 7.5 to 8 mph November to April at RSW; 5.3 to 5.5 mph in midsummer.

Naples weather by month: coast vs inland

Source: NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 monthly normals for Naples Municipal Airport (about 2 miles inland from the Gulf beach) and Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW). Rain days are days with at least 0.01 inch. NOAA returned no wind normals for the Naples station, so wind is shown for RSW only.

Naples coast vs Fort Myers inland

The Naples station stands in for the coast: Naples, Pelican Bay, Vanderbilt Beach, Bonita Beach and Marco Island. RSW stands in for Estero, San Carlos Park, Lehigh Acres and the Daniels and Alico corridor courses. The older in-town Fort Myers airport, Page Field, is within about 1F by day of RSW every month (January 75.0F / 54.3F, July 91.6F / 74.7F) and slightly wetter in late summer, with 10.43 inches in August.

Three differences matter for golf:

• Daytime highs barely differ, within about 1F all year, so a January afternoon feels the same at Hibiscus in Naples as at Eastwood in Fort Myers.
• Inland dawns are cooler in winter, about 1-2F lower (54.4F at RSW against 55.9F at Naples in January). An inland 7 am tee time at Stoneybrook or Ibis Landing starts a touch colder.
• Inland is wetter by days: about 7-8 rain days a month in winter at RSW against 4-5 at Naples, and a much heavier June.

November to April: golf weather

This is the season. Highs climb from about 77F in December and 75F in January to 84F in April, and rainfall stays under about 2.5 inches a month at Naples. Most days you can play from first tee to dusk in a polo, though January dawns near 56F call for a layer.

Cold fronts are the variable. A strong front can bring a breezy day in the 60s, or 40s dawns for a day or two, and bermuda grass slows and can look off-colour afterwards. Courses here almost never overseed, so the colour comes back as it warms. Wind picks up through the winter, peaking at 8.0 mph in March at RSW. On open, watery layouts and courses near the water it matters more; Saltleaf, which has no sand bunkers, relies on raised greens and the wind off Estero Bay for its defence. See the Saltleaf course guide.

Daylight is the other limit. Sunset is around 5:40 pm in early December (approximate), so twilight starts must be early to finish 18. The best time to golf in Naples covers prices and crowds month by month.

May and October: the transition months

May is about 88F and humid by late month, with the rainy season usually starting in late May or June (about 8 rain days in May). October is about 87F as the rains ease to about 6 days and humidity drops late in the month. Both are warm enough that morning tee times feel best, and both sit at the edges of the storm pattern: May before hurricane season, October inside it.

June to September: heat, storms and lightning

Summer is humid heat with a daily thunderstorm cycle rather than extreme temperatures. Highs sit around 90F and lows 74F to 76F, and rain falls on 15 to 19 days a month. The typical day: a dry, steamy morning, then sea-breeze thunderstorms building in the afternoon, which a Southwest Florida TV forecast describes as developing especially after 2 pm.

Lightning is the golf problem. PGA safety guidance says most lightning incidents happen between about 2 and 6 pm in summer. Florida courses commonly use lightning-detection systems with horn signals and suspend play when strikes come within a set radius; published examples are 8 miles at a Sarasota-area course and 6 miles in Palm Beach County's system, though individual Naples and Fort Myers course policies were not read. The practical rules:

1. Book the first tee times of the day from June to September.
2. Expect at least one lightning stoppage on an afternoon round.
3. Do not shelter under trees or in open carts.

Winds drop to about 5.3 to 5.5 mph inland in July and August, so summer rounds away from the beach are hot and still. The Gulf sea breeze makes beachfront courses a little breezier and cooler on summer afternoons than the airport figures suggest. Summer is also the maintenance season, when many courses close a week or more to aerify. Read summer golf in Naples for rates and closures.

Hurricane season and red tide

The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, with August to October the riskiest stretch. Ian made landfall on Cayo Costa on September 28, 2022 as a Category 4, Helene passed offshore in late September 2024, and Milton made landfall near Siesta Key on October 9-10, 2024. Most Gulf coast courses reopened within a week of Ian, but the Tiburón cart tunnel flooded, and The Dunes on Sanibel was reported as the last Southwest Florida course to reopen, with its front nine back in December 2023. Trip insurance that covers named storms is worth having for any June-November booking. See hurricane season golf in Florida.

Red tide is a separate, episodic coastal problem, most often from late summer to winter. It can cause beach respiratory irritation and fish kills for weeks but does not affect golf directly. FWC's October 23, 2026 report showed only background concentrations off Lee County and none at the Boca Grande and Bonita Beach samples. Check FWC's red tide status before a beach-heavy trip.

Packing and planning by season

• December to February: a light layer for early tee times and cold-front days; rain gear rarely needed at Naples.
• March and April: sun protection and a windproof layer for breezy days.
• June to September: an umbrella, extra gloves and towels, plenty of water, and a dawn tee time.
• Rainy days: have a backup plan; things to do in Naples lists indoor options, and Topgolf Fort Myers is open into the evening.

For the full season picture, read Naples golf in November, Naples golf in December and January, Naples golf in March and Naples winter golf for snowbirds. The Stoneybrook course guide and the Tiburón course guide cover an inland and a coastal-side course. For a dry-heat comparison, see Palm Springs weather by month.

Plan it on the map

Open the Naples golf map to see coastal and inland courses side by side with drive times. Pick your dates and the plan builds the trip around that month's weather, with summer rounds set for the cooler, drier mornings.