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Daytona Beach Mosquito Forecast

Today's mosquito activity in Daytona Beach, the week ahead, and what to do about it. Updated hourly.

Bite Index · Sunday, November 8

Very High

Very high mosquito activity in Daytona Beach today and climbing toward severe by Nov 9. Repellent is worth it for any time outside near dusk.

Steady biting from late afternoon on, anywhere with shade or standing water.

Worse than a typical November in Volusia County (usually around 52).

  • Tonight: a 69°F evening, light wind — good flying weather for mosquitoes.
  • A two-week average of 74°F keeps populations growing, just more slowly than midsummer.
  • 0.7 in. of rain Oct 24–Oct 31 is now producing adults.

The week ahead

Each day's Bite Index, from this week's weather and the rain that is still hatching. Forecast days get less certain as the week goes on.

  1. Today
    70V·High77°/60°dry
  2. Mon
    86Severe76°/62°dry
  3. Tue
    85Severe83°/62°dry
  4. Wed
    84Severe82°/67°0.1 in
  5. Thu
    82Severe81°/63°0.1 in
  6. Fri
    50High70°/51°dry
  7. Sat
    37Mod.60°/42°dry

Protect tonight

Repellent on all exposed skin before you go out, and reapply.

  1. 20% picaridin or 25–30% DEET, reapplied per label; treat clothing with permethrin if you'll be out for hours.
  2. Move the evening indoors or under a screened porch if you can; a fan at ankle height helps where you can't.
  3. Check screens and door sweeps tonight — this is when they find their way inside.
Which repellent, and how much: DEET vs picaridinBest natural repellents

Why Daytona Beach's mosquitoes do what they do

Daytona Beach sits between the Atlantic and the Halifax River's salt marsh, with the St. Johns River wetlands inland, and Volusia County Mosquito Control treats both by air through the season. The salt-marsh broods off the Halifax and Tomoka marshes are the classic Florida coast problem; the inland swamps add West Nile and EEE.

  • Salt marsh: the Halifax, Tomoka and Mosquito Lagoon marshes produce huge salt-marsh Aedes broods on spring tides.
  • St. Johns wetlands: inland freshwater habitat for Culex and the EEE cycle.
  • Summer storms: near-daily rain from June through September.
  • Aerial control: the county treats by air after big broods; its notices say where and when.

A typical year in Volusia County

What the Bite Index typically reads here each month, from Volusia County's 30-year climate normals run through the same model as today's number. The month you're in is marked; the season map shows the same long-run picture for every county.

  1. JJanuary: 3
  2. FFebruary: 4
  3. MMarch: 24
  4. AApril: 55
  5. MMay: 72
  6. JJune: 86
  7. JJuly: 86
  8. AAugust: 86
  9. SSeptember: 86
  10. OOctober: 75
  11. NNovember: 52
  12. DDecember: 16

Local surveillance and West Nile virus

The Bite Index measures nuisance biting, not disease. Volusia County's health department traps and tests mosquitoes through the season and publishes positive West Nile pools by ZIP code. When your ZIP has an active advisory, follow it regardless of today's number.

How the Bite Index is scored

The index is a model of conditions, not a mosquito count. Warmth and water set the size of the population, tonight's weather sets how much of it flies, and the season and local reports adjust the result. Every factor and today's value for it is listed here so you can check the number yourself. Warmth and Water are exactly the climate core of our county-level mosquito season map; the map shows that core on 30-year normals for every county, and “typical for this month” is the same model run on this county's normals, so the comparison is like for like.

WWater

Rain over the egg-to-adult window (0.7 in. between Oct 24 and Oct 31), expressed as a monthly rate on the same wetness curve the season map uses. At summer temperatures eggs become biting adults in about a week, so today's mosquitoes are last week's rain. Cool weather stretches the window; hot dry days shrink it. Irrigation, creeks and pools keep a 35% floor even in a drought.

Role scales
Today 70%

TWarmth

The trailing two-week average temperature on the season map's curve: nothing below 50°F, full speed at 78–88°F, a small penalty in extreme heat. Multiplied with Water, so a cool fortnight caps the index however wet it has been.

Role gates
Today 87%

ATonight

Whether the population that exists will actually fly and bite this evening: dusk temperature (65–85°F is ideal), wind (they stop flying around 10 mph), humidity, and rain around sunset. Scales the index between half and full.

Role 0.5–1×
Today 100%

GGround truth

A nudge from local trap counts and reports when we have them. For Daytona Beach this is neutral today; the health department's surveillance is linked above and will feed this factor as we wire it in.

Role ±15%
Today neutral

SSeason gate

A multiplier from the calendar: fully open in the city's season months, half-open in the shoulder months, nearly closed in deep winter unless the week is warm. Below a 50°F weekly average the index is simply 0.

Role ×
Today 100%

index = 100 × S × [T × (0.35 + 0.65·W)] × (0.5 + 0.5·A) × (1 + 0.15·G)

Bands: Low 0–20 · Moderate 21–40 · High 41–60 · Very High 61–80 · Severe 81–100. Weather is from Open-Meteo (observations and the 7-day forecast), refreshed hourly. The lag and temperature thresholds follow published work on Culex and Aedes development (Rueda et al. 1990; Cornell NRCC degree-day emergence; JAMCA 2024 on rainfall two to four weeks before trap peaks).

Questions people ask about mosquitoes in Daytona Beach

When is mosquito season in Daytona Beach?
Year-round, peaking from June through October. Salt-marsh broods follow the tides and can appear in any warm month.
Why is Mosquito Lagoon called that?
Because the salt marsh along the Indian River Lagoon produces salt-marsh mosquitoes in staggering numbers after flooding tides. The county's aerial program exists to treat those marshes before the adults emerge.
Is West Nile virus a risk in Daytona Beach?
Yes. Volusia County records West Nile and EEE activity in most years and the health department issues advisories. Follow those over the index.
Where does this forecast's data come from?
Open-Meteo weather for Daytona Beach, scored by our documented model and compared with Volusia County's climate normals. It does not include tide data, which drives salt-marsh broods.

Also covers Ormond Beach, Port Orange, New Smyrna Beach, DeLand, Deltona, Holly Hill, the Halifax River, Tomoka State Park: the forecast point is central Daytona Beach, and conditions within about 30 miles track it closely. Weather fetched Nov 8, 5:28 PM local time.

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