NW Florida - rain?! (Miami, Tallahassee: relocate, gated, home)

[redheadsdontdye]

I'm wondering if there are any bigger cities in the North Western parts Florida... i'm looking to relocate somewhere with tons of rain and palm trees. I found a perfect city in Hawaii, but I don't think I could manage moving all the way there.

Are there any cities like that in Florida? I was trying to do some research on the annual rainfall down there, there seems to be more in the NW part of FL. anyway, any direction or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Here is a map of Florida's precipitation.
I think it's been kinda dry the past year or so, especially since there were no hurricanes. But when we do get rain, seems like it comes in buckets.

http://www.ocs.orst.edu/pub/maps/Pre...ates/FL/fl.gif

[Ladywithafan]

...and it is during the summer....it is not Hawaii with tropical rain forests! Summer is also hurricane season, thus the rain.....you may have to pull over while driving during a tropical summer rainstorm as it can be impossible to see, at times...

[ellie]

I haven't been to every part of the Panhandle, but a lot of it is covered in pines and desert-like scrub. Only a few varieties of palms grow there. Last summer the drought was so bad that even the plants that were adapted to the climate started dying. Very disturbing.

If you are imagining Hawaii, you might need to look in south Florida. There are some amazing tropical gardens with hundreds of varieties of palms growing down there. Some areas have a dry and rainy season, with summer being the rainier, I've been told. Look on both coasts in Ft. Meyers/Naples and Miami/Ft. Lauderdale.

[sunrico90]

See below for forcast map for the entire state.





The palm trees are all relocated from the south at least in Pcola Navarre, Fort Walton and Destin. See below for historical data....

[sunrico90]

No other plant personifies Florida like a palm tree. Even FDOT believes this as they continue to plant palm trees in the highway medians and along bridge abutments. The palm tree says ‘Tropical’ better than any other plant. So why doesn’t Northwest Florida have more palm trees along the highways and in residential and commercial property??

It is that most palm trees are tropical and we live in a semi-tropical climate. Most palms dislike temperatures below freezing and here in NW Florida our typical low temps are around 20F to 25F. So what do we do ? We can plant Sabal Palm and Pindo Palm. They have proved Winter hardy in NW Florida for over a 100 years. They grow well and even reproduce, sometime irritatingly so. But there are several other palms that grow here in the right places. In fact the Little Sabal Palm is native here and grows well in wet and irrigated areas all over NW Florida.


Livistonia Palm Trees



European Fan Palm Tree


Distribution map of genus Sabal after Zona, 1990.


Sabal palmetto hammock

[whereisthegoodstuff]

Originally Posted by Ladywithafan

...and it is during the summer....it is not Hawaii with tropical rain forests! Summer is also hurricane season, thus the rain.....you may have to pull over while driving during a tropical summer rainstorm as it can be impossible to see, at times...

Yea, the rainstorms make it impossible to see at times. I try to stay in doors when it rains to many accidents happen, and the lightning is strong. Me and a friend were outdoors on a overcast day no rain (yea I know what were we thinking) and lightning striked out of no where across from us .

[BlueWillowPlate]

Sunrico
You posted real links! Can we post links now?
Florida Precip
Well, I guess *I* don't have the magic touch.

[redheadsdontdye]

well, i think i've found the right state, but does anyone know of any larger cities in the NW!?! i don't know, maybe there are none?

[BlueWillowPlate]

Is Tallahassee big enough? Approx 153,000.

http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/T...n-Profile.html