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Savannah Mosquito Forecast

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

Bite Index · Sunday, November 8

Moderate

Moderate mosquito activity in Savannah today: expect some bites at dusk.

Some bites at dusk and dawn, mostly near creeks, gardens and shade.

Quieter than a typical November in Chatham County (usually around 49).

  • Only 0.0 in. of rain Oct 21–Oct 30, so few new breeding sites; what's biting is coming from irrigation, pools and creeks.
  • Tonight: a cool 62°F evening, light wind — good flying weather for mosquitoes.
  • It's the edge of the season; warm weeks like this one keep it going past the calendar.

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
    29Mod.74°/56°dry
  2. Mon
    27Mod.77°/52°dry
  3. Tue
    32Mod.81°/50°dry
  4. Wed
    26Mod.72°/58°dry
  5. Thu
    30Mod.78°/57°dry
  6. Fri
    17Low61°/45°dry
  7. Sat
    16Low58°/39°dry

Protect tonight

Worth repellent if you'll be outside at dusk or dawn.

  1. A botanical or 10% picaridin lotion covers a patio evening; reapply after about two hours.
  2. A fan on the patio does real work: mosquitoes are weak fliers and avoid moving air.
Which repellent, and how much: DEET vs picaridinBest natural repellents

Why Savannah's mosquitoes do what they do

Savannah sits on a bluff above the river with salt marsh on three sides, and Chatham County runs one of the largest mosquito-control programs in the Southeast, with its own aircraft and a trapping network across the county. West Nile was detected in the county's mosquitoes by mid-July in 2025.

  • Salt marsh: the marshes between Savannah and Tybee produce huge salt-marsh Aedes broods after spring tides and tropical rain.
  • Rice-field history: the old rice canals and impoundments along the river are permanent habitat.
  • Humid subtropical summers: dusk humidity stays high from May through September.
  • Aerial control: Chatham sprays by air after big broods; its notices say where and when.

A typical year in Chatham County

The long-run mosquito index by month from our season map (NOAA climate normals plus effort-corrected sightings). Today's Bite Index is the live version of this; the month you're in is marked.

  1. JJanuary: 17
  2. FFebruary: 23
  3. MMarch: 37
  4. AApril: 56
  5. MMay: 77
  6. JJune: 89
  7. JJuly: 95
  8. AAugust: 100
  9. SSeptember: 98
  10. OOctober: 78
  11. NNovember: 49
  12. DDecember: 22

Local surveillance and West Nile virus

The Bite Index measures nuisance biting, not disease. Chatham 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. Four weather factors are combined on a 0–100 scale, then scaled by the season. Every factor and today's value for it is listed here so you can check the number yourself. It uses the same temperature curve and rain logic as our county-level mosquito season map, which has been validated against effort-corrected sighting data across 41 states.

BBreeding pressure

Rain 7–14 days ago (0.0 in. between Oct 21 and Oct 30). Eggs need water to hatch, and at summer temperatures the egg-to-biting-adult cycle takes about a week, so today's mosquitoes are last week's rain. Cool weather stretches the window; hot dry days shrink it as shallow water evaporates.

Weight 40%
Today 0%

DDevelopment

The trailing two-week average temperature, on the same curve as our national season map: nothing below 50°F, full speed at 78–88°F, a small penalty in extreme heat.

Weight 25%
Today 64%

ATonight's activity

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.

Weight 25%
Today 80%

GGround truth

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

Weight 10%
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.

Weight ×
Today 60%

index = 100 × S × (0.40 × (0.2 + 0.8·B) + 0.25 × D + 0.25 × A + 0.10 × (0.5 + 0.5·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 Savannah

When is mosquito season in Savannah?
March through November, peaking from June through September. Salt-marsh broods can appear any month the marsh floods; hard frost is rare, so the season tapers rather than ends.
Why are the mosquitoes so bad on the islands?
Tybee, Wilmington and Skidaway sit in the salt marsh, where tides and storms hatch salt-marsh mosquitoes by the million. Those broods fly miles inland and are why the county treats by air.
Is West Nile virus a risk in Savannah?
Yes. Chatham County detects West Nile in mosquitoes most summers, and the Coastal Health District issues advisories. Follow those over the index.
Where does this forecast's data come from?
Open-Meteo weather for downtown Savannah, scored by our documented model and compared with Chatham County's season-map climatology. It does not include tide data, which drives salt-marsh broods.

Also covers Tybee Island, Pooler, Richmond Hill, Wilmington Island, Garden City, Hilton Head, Forsyth Park, Skidaway Island: the forecast point is central Savannah, and conditions within about 30 miles track it closely. Weather fetched Nov 8, 1:38 PM local time.

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