Month by month home care for Pensacola, built on the 1991 to 2020 climate normals, the April and August lovebug flights, hurricane season from June to November and a short, mild winter.
Most cleaning calendars assume four tidy seasons, a snowy winter and a spring thaw. Pensacola does not work that way. Its year splits into a mild, fairly dry stretch from late fall to early spring and a long wet, hot one from June into October, with two lovebug flights and a storm season layered on top.
This calendar follows the local numbers instead of the generic ones, so each month's tasks match what the weather is actually doing to the house.
Pensacola Regional Airport averages 68.31 inches of rain a year in the 1991 to 2020 normals. May is the driest month at 3.90 inches, and July is the wettest at 7.89. Mean temperatures run from 53.2 degrees in January to 83.5 in July. UF/IFAS puts the state's lovebug flights in April to May and August to September, and the National Hurricane Center lists the season as June 1 to November 30, with the peak around September 10.
With a January mean near 53 degrees and lower humidity than summer, this is the best stretch of the year for jobs that need things to dry: washing curtains and bedding, wiping down closets, cleaning out under sinks, and checking bathroom caulk and grout. Run the heat on cool nights and closets stay fresher.
It is also a good time to look back on storm season. Wipe down and put away flashlights and supplies, and wash anything that sat in a garage or utility room through the wet months.
Spring arrives early here. March is the time to clean ceiling fans before they start running every day, to wash screens and window tracks, and to wipe down porch furniture.
Lovebugs begin appearing in April. Keep porch lights off at night when you can, and wipe entry glass and door frames every few days so the bugs do not stick. Heavy spring storms happen too: on April 29, 2014, Pensacola's airport recorded an estimated 15.55 inches of rain in a single day, the most on record there since 1879.
May averages only about 3.90 inches of rain, and the spring lovebug flight is winding down. That makes late May the best time of the year for a One-Time Deep Clean: baseboards, blinds, window tracks, vents and fans all come clean before the wet season starts. It is also the month to restock storm supplies before June 1.
June brings about 7.32 inches of rain, July 7.89 and August 7.50. Bathrooms, laundry rooms and closets get the most attention now. Run bath fans after every shower, leave shower doors open to dry, and pull damp towels and gym clothes out of hampers quickly. The pink film ECUA describes as bacteria on damp bathroom surfaces grows fastest in these months.
Entry floors take a beating from rain, sand and pets. A heavier recurring rhythm, or an extra visit in July, keeps up with it. The second lovebug flight starts in August.
September averages about 6.61 inches of rain and sits right at the hurricane peak around September 10. Hurricane Ivan made landfall on September 16, 2004, and Hurricane Sally dropped more than 22 inches near Pensacola in September 2020. Keep a clear path to the doors, bring outdoor cushions inside when a storm threatens, and plan to reschedule cleaning visits around the forecast.
When the lovebug flight ends in late September, clean screens, sills and window tracks again. The storm season guide covers what to do after a storm passes.
Hurricane season ends November 30 and the air starts to dry out. November is a good month for a second deep clean of the year, before guests arrive for the holidays. Clean the fans one more time before they slow down for winter, and wash the bedding and curtains that carried summer humidity.
The questions Pensacola homeowners ask most often about this topic, answered plainly.
TotalCare Cleaning will service Pensacola and surrounding areas with background-checked cleaners and is insured up to $1 million. Re-clean guarantee: if we missed something, tell us by the end of the next day and we come back to fix it. Beyond Clean. TotalCare.
