[TriMT7]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

If you think about it, Florida's Christmas weather is very authentic. The weather in Orlando in December is far closer to December weather in Bethlehem, Israel than the Christmas weather in Chicago or New York City ever will be.

We've just been brainwashed by Bing Crosby and Victorian novelists to think that snow everywhere is how Christmas is supposed to be when it's actually not terribly historically accurate.

I've said it a million times. BILLIONS of people in this world live outside the idealized "four seasons" weather pattern, and scores of people celebrate Christmas in a heck of a lot hotter weather than we get in Florida in December. Scores of people in the US are actually moving to even hotter and more humid locales than Florida in South and Central America for retirement. (Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, etc.)

What percentage of the United States ACTUALLY has a realistic chance of a "white Christmas" any given year, anyway?

[beachmouse]

I grew up in the Lake Michigan lake effect snow belt. We were about 20 for 21 on white Christmases in my childhood through college years. 3-8 inches of snow on Christmas Eve is really Not Fun when Dad's stuck driving the family minivan out to Uncle Bob's place in the suburbs or Uncle Perry's home in farm country both areas that take their dear sweet time to plow even when they aren't worried about having to pay drivers extra holiday pay for it.

In my book White Christmas= vastly overrated and more of an annoyance than anything else.

The one Christmas that everyone remembers most fondly? The time when we had a freak warm front come through on Christmas day in the late 70s and it was something like 61F out. It was wonderful. All the male cousins got in trouble over at grandma and grandpa's house because they went outside in their stylin' new polyesther pastel leisure suits to play touch football, got all dirty and then tracked a lot of mud back into the house.

These days, my parents and sister come down to the beach for Christmas instead of having to deal with the awful December weather in Michigan.

[vpcats]

Well, I agree it's a lot easier to deal with anything, anytime of the year, if the weather is good. Just warm enough. Just cold enough. Just sunny enough. Just cloudy enough. ETC.

I was only talking about what I was used to and the differences in different places for the same thing. I personally don't really care for snow or 50 or below AT ALL but, different it is for any given situation.

[Mike Peterson]

Originally Posted by TriMT7

I've said it a million times. BILLIONS of people in this world live outside the idealized "four seasons" weather pattern, and scores of people celebrate Christmas in a heck of a lot hotter weather than we get in Florida in December. Scores of people in the US are actually moving to even hotter and more humid locales than Florida in South and Central America for retirement. (Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, etc.)

What percentage of the United States ACTUALLY has a realistic chance of a "white Christmas" any given year, anyway?

You got it right.

I was in Panama Christmas Day last year. It was certainly hotter than Florida but everyone was still celebrating.

From Mexico on south there is generally a larger percentage of the population that celebrates Christmas and you know they have never seen snow.

I have to go south at least once during the winter to warm up.

[mrcoolmrcool28]

Last year I was very happy to have my picture taken in front of the Christmas tree in shorts at my sister's house in LA. The year before we celebrated in Sand Key, the year before in NYC, although it was unusually warm that year. But it doesn't help when you come back to a couple feet of snow in Wisconsin the next day or two later. I DO remember a warm Christmas in Wisconsin, it had to have been 1981 or 82. It was 60 something. We saw a friend of our's in his convertible when we were on the way to my mother's. On the other extreme, Christmas of 1983 was 30 below not including windchill. We packed the truck with blankets in case the truck didn't make it to my mother's on Christmas Eve night. Awful.

[tilli]

I dunno, I feel pretty darn cold today.

[BlueWillowPlate]

This morning I drove out to the rec center to swim at 6am. My car's thermometer said 41 at 6, and 39 at 6:35. Cold, but not below freezing.

I spent many, many Christmases in Denver. Though the Blizzard of '82 was memorable, only a handful of those holidays involved more than a trace of snow.

[Kathleen1971]

Originally Posted by tilli

I dunno, I feel pretty darn cold today.

You and me both. Heck, even my dogs didn't want to get out of bed and go outside and they are big and furry lol. My boss is not helping matter by putting the air on 70. This will be one of those days where we go back and forth adjusting the thermostat lol.

[Suncoast Guy]

Originally Posted by tilli

I dunno, I feel pretty darn cold today.

You should feel pretty darn cold today and yesterday, because it IS cold!!!

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

Its 54 degrees here a little above Orlando and I am cold AND it makes my back really stiff. Thats one of the reasons I live in Florida, to avoid the cold that hurts my bones.