A year of home care built on Savannah's own numbers: an easy winter, the June rain peak, the most humid weeks in August and September and a hurricane season to plan around.
Savannah's seasons do not match a typical northern calendar. Winter is when you can get things done comfortably, and summer is when the house takes the most punishment. Plan around that and much of the year gets easier.
The figures here come from NOAA climate normals at the airport, with weather warnings from the City of Savannah and Chatham Emergency Management. The housekeeping suggestions follow from them.
The airport normally records 48.12 inches of precipitation a year and about 70 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June is wettest at 6.65 inches, and November is driest at 2.39. July's normal high is 92.3 degrees and about 80 days a year reach 90 or above. January lows average 40 degrees, with about 21 freezing nights and no normal snowfall.
Humidity climbs into late summer. Average relative humidity peaks at 78.6 percent in August and 77.7 percent in September, with summer dew points near 72 degrees. That is why this calendar moves heavy cleaning to the cooler months and keeps summer tasks focused on moisture.
With mild days and no snow to speak of, winter is a comfortable time for chores that would be miserable in July. Wash baseboards, take down curtains, wipe blinds and clean window tracks. This is also a good time to pull furniture away from outside walls and check closets for any musty corners left over from summer.
Heating runs only part of the time. Change filters anyway and vacuum registers. After holiday cooking, degrease the range hood and cabinet fronts. Freezes are few, but on those nights condensation may gather on old glass, so wipe sills in the morning.
Use the last pleasant months to prepare for the wet stretch. Check bath fans, because a fan that does not pull well in April will be a real problem in August. Clean porch ceilings, screens and outdoor furniture, and sweep oak debris from steps and mats. Live oaks are so common here that they gave the city its old nickname, and their litter gets tracked everywhere.
Check your storm kit as well. A One-Time Deep Clean toward the end of this period, explained in the deep cleaning guide, gives you a clean baseline before summer.
About half of the year's rain falls from June through September, often as brief thunderstorms. Keep a towel near the back door and clean entry floors often. Squeegee showers, leave doors ajar and run fans well after bathing. Change air conditioner filters on schedule. Check closets on outside walls, and leave room around stored items so air can move.
Standing water matters too. Chatham County reports 40 species of mosquitoes and asks residents to keep containers free of water. Check saucers and buckets after storms. Do outside chores early in the day, since the county emergency agency warns about summer heat illness. Be careful with outdoor watering too: Savannah bans it on Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., which is worth knowing if you rinse porches with a hose.
Late summer brings the highest humidity, and hurricane season stays on everyone's mind. Matthew arrived in 2016, Irma brushed the area in 2017, and Debby and Helene affected Savannah in 2024. The city warns that flooding can come from heavy rain, storm surge and high tide, and it limits sandbags to five per household. Know your evacuation zone from Chatham Emergency Management, and secure carts and loose items when a storm is forecast.
If water comes in, stop and call your insurer and a restoration company. A cleaner can help once the home is dry and safe. If it stays dry, the best thing you can do in these months is to keep up with bathrooms and watch for any stains on ceilings after a storm.
The driest month of the year is a good time for a reset. Wash shower curtains and bath mats, clean grout and check for summer's marks on closet walls. Clean ceiling fan blades, which by now carry months of sticky dust. Then get the house ready for guests. If you want help, recurring plans can be adjusted around the holidays. Many households find the end of this month a natural point to change their schedule.
The questions Savannah homeowners ask most often about this topic, answered plainly.
TotalCare Cleaning will service Savannah 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.
