Original analysis of public NOAA, FEMA and Census data · data through October 24, 2026
Crestview and Destin heat and humidity data: what summer does to an air conditioner
The same metro, two different summers. Over 2016 to 2025, Crestview's Bob Sikes Airport averaged 108 days a year at 90°F or hotter and only 10 nights that stayed at 75°F or warmer. The Destin-Fort Walton Beach airport, a few miles from the Gulf, averaged 71 hot days but 106 warm nights. Inland systems fight the afternoon; beach systems never get the night off.
Inland vs coast, yearly average, 2016 to 2025
Crestview gets the hot afternoons; the coast gets the hot nights. Source: NOAA NCEI daily summaries, stations USW00013884 and USW00053853, 2016 to 2025.
| 2016 to 2025 yearly average | Crestview (inland) | Destin-Fort Walton Beach (coast) |
|---|---|---|
| Days at 90°F or hotter | 108 | 71 |
| Nights with a low of 75°F or warmer | 10 | 106 |
| July average high | 93.2°F | 90.6°F |
| July average low | 72.2°F | 78.1°F |
| January average low | 37.9°F | 46.5°F |
NOAA NCEI daily summaries, stations USW00013884 and USW00053853. Only years with highs and lows on at least 340 days at the coastal station and 355 at Crestview are counted (10 years).
What we found
- Inland afternoons are hotter. Crestview logged about 37 more 90 degree days a year than the coastal airport, with a July average high of 93°F against 91°F.
- Coastal nights barely cool. The coastal airport averaged 106 nights a year at 75°F or warmer, more than ten times Crestview's 10. The July average low there is 78°F against 72°F inland.
- Inland winters are colder. January lows average 38°F in Crestview and 47°F on the coast. The metro averages about 1,586 heating degree days and 2,595 cooling degree days a year (NOAA nClimDiv), so heat pumps here heat as well as cool.
- More 90 degree days than before. In Crestview: 93 a year in 1976 to 1990, 97 in 1991 to 2020, 108 in 2016 to 2025, and 102 a year so far in the 2020s (6 complete years).
- Muggier air. Days with an average dew point of 75°F or more went from 3 a year in 1973 to 1990 to 12 in 2015 to 2024. Days at 70°F or more, already sticky, number about 98 a year.
- A longer season. Over 2016 to 2025 Crestview's first 90°F day came around April 24 on average and the last around October 16, about 174 days apart. In 1991 to 2020 it was April 27 to October 7, 163 days.
- 2026 so far: 99 days at 90°F or more in Crestview through October 24, 2026, against a 1991 to 2020 average of 97 by that date. The high for the year was 100°F on July 28, 2026.
- Storms: 62 tropical systems tracked within 60 miles of central Crestview from 1856 through 2025, 16 at hurricane strength and 6 as major hurricanes. FEMA lists 20 hurricane and tropical storm major disaster declarations covering Okaloosa or Walton County, 7 since 2017, the latest for Hurricane Isaias in October 2026.
- Homes: Fort Walton Beach has the oldest housing (45% built before 1980). The beach ZIPs are mostly empty part of the year: 49% of Destin's housing units, 53% around Santa Rosa Beach and 30A and 72% in Miramar Beach were vacant when surveyed.
Days per year at 90°F or hotter, Crestview Bob Sikes Airport
Days per year with an average dew point of 75°F or higher
Average daily high and low by month, Crestview Bob Sikes Airport
Average days at 90°F or hotter, by month
Hurricanes near Crestview since 1990
| Hurricane | Date nearest Crestview | Closest track point | Peak wind within 60 miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dennis | July 10, 2005 | 40 miles | 120 mph, Category 3 |
| Opal | October 5, 1995 | 21 miles | 115 mph, Category 3 |
| Erin | August 3, 1995 | 49 miles | 100 mph, Category 2 |
NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 best tracks through 2025, six-hourly positions plus landfall points, measured from central Crestview. Hurricane Isaias (October 2026) is not in HURDAT2 yet: the National Weather Service puts its landfall near Destin around 8:30 p.m. CDT on October 9, 2026, as a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.
FEMA major disaster declarations for Okaloosa and Walton counties: hurricanes and tropical storms
| Declaration | Incident began | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Isaias | October 6, 2026 | DR-4955 |
| Hurricane Helene | September 23, 2024 | DR-4828 |
| Hurricane Debby | August 1, 2024 | DR-4806 |
| Hurricane Ian | September 23, 2022 | DR-4673 |
| Hurricane Sally | September 14, 2020 | DR-4564 |
| Hurricane Michael | October 7, 2018 | DR-4399 |
| Hurricane Irma | September 4, 2017 | DR-4337 |
| Hurricane Isaac | August 27, 2012 | DR-4084 |
| Hurricane Gustav | August 31, 2008 | DR-1806 |
| Hurricane Katrina | August 24, 2005 | DR-1602 |
| Hurricane Dennis | July 7, 2005 | DR-1595 |
| Hurricane Ivan | September 13, 2004 | DR-1551 |
| Hurricane Frances | September 3, 2004 | DR-1545 |
| Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley | August 11, 2004 | DR-1539 |
| Tropical Storm Helene | September 21, 2000 | DR-1344 |
| Hurricane Georges | September 25, 1998 | DR-1249 |
| Hurricane Opal | October 4, 1995 | DR-1069 |
| Hurricane Erin | August 2, 1995 | DR-1062 |
| Severe Storms and Flooding (Tropical Storm Alberto) | July 2, 1994 | DR-1035 |
| Hurricane Frederic | September 13, 1979 | DR-600 |
OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries for the two counties. Emergency (EM) and fire declarations are not shown.
By decade in Crestview
| Decade | Days at 90°F+ per year | Days at 95°F+ per year | Nights at 75°F+ per year | Nights at 80°F+ per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 95.9 | 36.1 | 5.9 | 0.1 |
| 2000s | 85.0 | 19.9 | 4.6 | 0.0 |
| 2010s | 110.8 | 45.0 | 8.4 | 0.0 |
| 2020 to 2025 | 102.2 | n/a | 11.7 | n/a |
Decades with fewer than 7 complete years are left out. The station record has a gap from the early 1950s to the mid 1970s.
Homes by ZIP code
Housing age tells you how old the ductwork and the first systems are likely to be. Vacancy on the beaches is mostly second homes and rentals, which need humidity control while empty. Heating fuel shows how many homes rely on electric heat, where a heat pump is the usual system. The Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field rows are on-base housing.
| ZIP | Area | Housing units | Median year built | Built before 1980 | Built 2000 or later | Vacant | Owner occupied | Electric heat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32459 | Santa Rosa Beach and 30A | 18,907 | 2006 | 5% | 66% | 47% | 78% | 89% |
| 32541 | Destin | 16,496 | 1995 | 16% | 37% | 49% | 68% | 80% |
| 32547 | Fort Walton Beach (north, Ocean City) | 16,008 | 1985 | 41% | 23% | 10% | 57% | 72% |
| 32550 | Miramar Beach | 15,531 | 1997 | 9% | 42% | 72% | 82% | 71% |
| 32578 | Niceville and Bluewater Bay | 14,956 | 1989 | 23% | 27% | 9% | 79% | 61% |
| 32548 | Fort Walton Beach (south and Okaloosa Island) | 14,293 | 1980 | 51% | 23% | 28% | 58% | 71% |
| 32539 | Crestview (north) | 12,813 | 1999 | 20% | 48% | 8% | 78% | 80% |
| 32536 | Crestview (south and central) | 9,812 | 2001 | 19% | 55% | 5% | 71% | 81% |
| 32433 | DeFuniak Springs | 8,344 | 1994 | 22% | 36% | 12% | 75% | 92% |
| 32439 | Freeport | 6,749 | 2006 | 11% | 66% | 11% | 80% | 91% |
| 32461 | Inlet Beach and Rosemary Beach | 6,145 | 2009 | 2% | 82% | 71% | 86% | 72% |
| 32569 | Mary Esther | 5,723 | 1985 | 39% | 19% | 12% | 71% | 71% |
| 32579 | Shalimar | 5,135 | 1982 | 46% | 17% | 12% | 70% | 68% |
| 32531 | Baker | 3,257 | 2000 | 22% | 51% | 9% | 82% | 87% |
| 32435 | DeFuniak Springs (south) | 3,035 | 1987 | 41% | 30% | 13% | 77% | 88% |
| 32567 | Laurel Hill | 2,279 | 1991 | 37% | 36% | 16% | 87% | 92% |
| 32455 | Ponce de Leon | 1,998 | 1988 | 36% | 20% | 19% | 77% | 83% |
| 32580 | Valparaiso | 1,980 | 1974 | 53% | 27% | 7% | 67% | 58% |
| 32564 | Holt | 1,196 | 1995 | 31% | 40% | 4% | 82% | 77% |
| 32542 | Eglin AFB | 954 | 2013 | 10% | 79% | 6% | 0% | 58% |
| 32544 | Hurlburt Field | 583 | 2016 | 6% | 90% | 8% | 0% | 27% |
Area names are our shorthand for the main town in each ZIP. Census ACS 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates (tables B25034, B25035, B25003, B25040). Click a column to sort.
How we built this
Temperature and rain. NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network daily summaries for Crestview Bob Sikes Airport (station USW00013884), January 1, 1948 to October 24, 2026. A year counts only if it has a high and low on at least 355 days, which leaves 45 complete years (the station has gaps, mostly from the 1950s to the 1970s). "Normal" here means the average of 1991 to 2020; "recent" means 2016 to 2025. These are our own counts, not NOAA's official normals.
Coast comparison. The same counts for the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport (USW00053853), which has daily records from December 1996, over the 10 years both stations have complete: 2016 to 2025.
Dew point. NOAA NCEI Global Summary of the Day for Crestview (72221513884), daily mean dew point, 1973 to 2024, years with at least 340 days of readings (52 years).
Storms. NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 best-track data, 1851 to 2025. A storm counts if any track point falls within 60 statute miles of 30.76 N, 86.57 W; strength is the peak wind at those points. Hurricane Isaias (2026) comes from the National Weather Service Mobile/Pensacola post-storm report until HURDAT2 adds it. Disaster declarations come from OpenFEMA.
Homes. US Census American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates by ZIP Code Tabulation Area, via Census Reporter. Two small rural ZIPs (Paxton and Argyle) are not published in this release and are left out.
Refresh. The tables rebuild from the raw public pulls each time we re-run the pipeline (pipeline/summarize.mjs); the date at the top changes only when the data does.
Limits. Two airport stations don't describe every street. Homes right on the Gulf or the bays may run warmer at night than the Destin airport, and the pine woods north of Crestview can run colder in winter. Use this to understand the area, not to diagnose your system.
Cite this. Crestview AC Desk, "Crestview and Destin heat and humidity data," https://crestviewacdesk.com/crestview-destin-heat-humidity-data/, NOAA data through October 24, 2026, Census ACS 2020 to 2024, updated October 28, 2026. Journalists, inspectors and anyone else can reuse these figures under CC BY 4.0 with a link here.