Without snow and not much cold and lots of greenery all around, the usual standards don’t apply.
That being said, Floridians know winter when they feel it:
- In the day, if the mercury doesn’t break above 70 – That’s winter!
- Or during the night, if the mercury doesn’t break 40 – That’s also winter!
Naples airport has recorded 5 days so far this winter that haven’t broken above 70º F.
On average we can count on 17.
We’ve yet to have a single night break below the 40º F mark, however.
That happens about 7 times per year on average.
Our coldest winter of the past 30 years was the winter of 95-96 when 41 days didn’t break above the 70º mark and 17 nights plunged down to 40º or below.
That was an El Nino year by the way.
I wasn’t here at the time, but even if I was, quite frankly I’d have a tough time calling even that winter.
8 comments:
After living in south Florida for 35 years (Wow! Where'd the time go?), I know winter when it happens and I like it just fine that way, thank you very much! When the tourists, snowbirds and new arrivals grouse about snow at Christmas, I remind them that snow is pretty for a couple of hours, then it's a real pain in the you-know-what. I LOVE FLORIDA! Winter weather and all!
Thanks for your comment Constance ... and Hold the Press:
Last night we recorded our first sub 40 degree of the winter!
You must be a Yankee transplant. Below 40 is FRIGGIN COLD to me.
I figure winter starts when the sheepshead strike bait. Maybe there's a whole fishing/seasons/temperature Chart out there somewhere?
Or you could make one!
That's a really good idea, tracking the fish (and what they are doing) is another great way to track the subtleties of the seasons here in Florida.
After reading your addendum, I am not surprised that you went below 40 last night... It was 18 yesterday morning here when we got up --and about 25 this morning... DARN cold --even for the girl who loves winter!!!!!
Have you had an El Nino year since 95-96????
Betsy
Like Betsy's area, we were below 17 degrees last night! We also have around 8 to 10 inches of the pretty fresh white stuff on the ground because of the snowfall we received yesterday.
Don't get me wrong, I love to visit Florida but I just could not live there and not have the distinct changes of season that mark our year here in the Midwest.
As I've gotten older I have actually come to appreciate the changes even more too. We are many of us are different in our weather "needs," and I'm glad too!
I miss it too. You lose part of yourself when you don't get it, especially the snow.
This year is an El Nino year I believe, could be a cold winter for us. In Orlando I can't remember seeing a 10 day forecast that includes sub-40 (or near sub-40) low temps for 7-8 days into the future like I've seen lately in the news.
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