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While it is COLDER in Illinois in the winter, it does get cold in Florida in the winter as well. The temps do reach freezing or just below..
Not -20 or -30 though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TKramar
And in the summer, Illinois has days in the 90s, Florida has days in the 90s. .
And the technical fact is that generally, on a day to day basis, Florida experiences average dewpoints around 70°F in the summer, whereas that is far less common in Illinois. And nowhere in Illinois has average highs matching the vast majority of Florida in Jun-Aug. Not hard to look at some stats to prove yourself wrong. But remember "there is none so blind as those who will not see".
Quote:
Originally Posted by TKramar
So how you could say that one has unbearable heat is ridiculous. I'll be surprised if it gets over 85 today, probably even less, since it rained.
Where did I say one has unbearable heat? Uh no, you are misquoting me for somebody else. I love hot and humid weather. The hotter, the better.
While Illinois can have heatwaves with actual temperatures hotter than Florida, and Florida can get "cool" but not "cold weather" (and certainly not on the level that Illinois can), the basic climatological fact remains that Florida rarely ever sees the type of cold possible in Illinois (in fact, more or less never, if we're talking extremes); it is persistently warm and humid in summer, to a level that Illinois rarely exceeds, when considering both mean temperatures AND dewpoints; and your argument is a load of steaming horse dollup.
I think the biggest difference in the South/Deep South/Texas in the summer and the rest of the country is the relentlessness of the heat. It can get quite hot and uncomfortable over just about all the continental U.S. during the summer. The difference is that in the Deep South especially is that cold fronts are non-existant in the Summer. They simply don't make it thru here. The air stays stagnant and generally breezeless with temps between 90 -102 with thick humidity EVERY DAY THE ENTIRE SUMMER without a break. Only the occasional big summertime thunderstorm temporarily cools things off. In the Midwest, you at least have a cold front every few days or so that clears the haze and stagnant air and clears out the humidity. It isn't until about late September that cold fronts start consistently clearing the Deep South. So from late May to late September it's pretty relentless. It isn't unbearable if you're use to it but it does get really old after a couple of months. By late August, you're so ready for fall you're about to pull your hair out. Unfortunately, by then you're in the heart of hurricane season and have to hold your breathe with all the drama that brings.
The night times are a big difference I've noticed living in the Deep South vs when I've been in the Midwest for example. It's often very warm, humid, and uncomfortable throughout the night in the Deep South whereas the times I've been in the Midwest it's been really nice at night during the summer.
I think you nailed it exactly. Having spent a summer in the south I don't recall experiencing any significant "cool" fronts between June and Sept. I think almost all cold fronts get hung up in the mid-Atlantic or New England. In southeast GA the avg monthly mean temp between June and Sept is around 80F, with high/low around 90/70. The std dev during those months in GA is around 1.2, so pretty much every day is 90+ and the nights don't cool down lower than 70, with high humidity.
In the NE US, I would say cold fronts happen every few weeks in summer where the temps will get knocked down around 10 degrees and much lower humidity for a few days. In fact, the cool fronts create almost perfect summer weather of clear blue skies and temps around 80 to 85. It is especially nice after a heat wave of 90 plus temps.
I used to live in Illinois. I lived for the summer, loved the heat. It quite easily reached 90 degrees Fahrenheit there.
Thought we were moving to sunny Florida, and that first winter, well, I already had my winter coat. Low temps in the winter here often dip below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and sometimes even below freezing. That's why citrus farmers worry about a freeze. If it was so "hot", they wouldn't have to worry. Even temps in the 60s are cold enough for me to don at LEAST a long sleeve shirt, if not a jacket.
What would be your def of "often"? Looking at the data from 1971 to 2000, for Bradenton your avg high/low for Jan is 73/50. The calculated std dev for Jan based on the 1971 to 2000 data is 4 degrees. To get below 40 would be 10 degrees below the mean. Two std dev's from the mean gets you down to 42, and presumably (assuming normal distribution) low temps between 42 to 58 would occur around 95% of the time. A further span from 38 to 62 for a nightime low would occur around 99.7% of the time.
I know you do get cold fronts occasionally that bring a frost, especially during a colder than avg winter, but it just seems that the data shows you would rarely have winter night lows below 40. Some winters the data shows not one night in Jan below 40, and even this past Jan, which was -3F below avg, there were only 4 nights with lows in the 30's and three of them were over 36 degrees.
after a certain point, it just becomes too uncomfortable to go anywhere because you'll be sweaty and sticky
That's the clincher for me. When it gets to the point that the air is so saturated that sweat just stays on your skin until it puddles and runs it's too miserable for me.
Probably not a big deal for lucky folks that get to spend all their time in the pool, at the beach, on the boat, etc. For the average joe stuck in a city schlubbing along at a job, raising a family, doing mundane things like yard work or coaching a little league game, that kind of humidity is not much fun.
The concept that body-types (compact v. lanky) are environmental adaptations is described by Allen's rule and Bergmann's rule. That is pretty much turn-of-the 20th century science (pre-dating all kinds of ridiculous interpretations of zoological and anthropological science. See Nazi anthropology for example). While they may still have some validity for certain species, humans defy the simple platitudes defined by those rules.
While it is true that you have lanky people in equatorial regions such as the Masaii in Tanzania, and stout people near the Arctic such as the Inuit, you also have lanky people near the equator, Scandinavians, and stout people near the equator such as West Africans.
People who live in extremely cold climates may tend to be fatter than their sub-tropical and tropical counterparts because they are more or less forced to be sedentary for part of the year. Likewise, extreme heat, and there is no shortage of people in hot climates that have a propensity for obesity even before the modern world and its conveniences entered the picture.
Also, the type of fat humans have is not insulating, at least not in the way a seal or a whale's fat is an insulating layer. While fat, in and of itself does insulate, on even the fattest human, it works about as well as a well insulated house with all the doors and windows open.
A fat person may have no problem in the heat while a lanky person may love the cold. The difference is in metabolism. A lot of fat people over-consume calories and thus may stay warm in the snow. A thin person can experience the same effect. Likewise, a thin person and a fat person who have not eaten in a couple of days will both be cold.
And the technical fact is that generally, on a day to day basis, Florida experiences average dewpoints around 70°F in the summer, whereas that is far less common in Illinois. And nowhere in Illinois has average highs matching the vast majority of Florida in Jun-Aug. Not hard to look at some stats to prove yourself wrong. But remember "there is none so blind as those who will not see".
Cairo, IL Average High Temperature, July: 89.7
Tampa, FL Average High Temperature, July: 89.7
Cairo, IL Average High Temperature, July: 89.7
Tampa, FL Average High Temperature, July: 89.7
Care to find the average minimum temperatures and the average dew points for those locations? Not to mention the factor of stronger U.V. index in Florida.
You also didn't notice I said: And nowhere in Illinois has average highs matching the vast majority of Florida in Jun-Aug
Vast majority implying that some parts of Florida do indeed have comparable average highs to parts of Illinois, but the vast majority doesn't. Of course, that's forgetting humidity, UV index etc.. etc..
I'm done with this ludicrous "argument". You are happy to pick out individual bits of data right out of context, just like this, and think that actually proves something. How ignorant.
Go away and study the climatology of these places and stop wasting your/my time before you start pretending you know anything about it.
Florida is hotter, more humid and far closer resembles a tropical climate than Illinois. You can tell a 3 yr old that and they would understand. The ignorance of some is astounding.
And the technical fact is that generally, on a day to day basis, Florida experiences average dewpoints around 70°F in the summer, whereas that is far less common in Illinois. And nowhere in Illinois has average highs matching the vast majority of Florida in Jun-Aug. Not hard to look at some stats to prove yourself wrong. But remember "there is none so blind as those who will not see".
Where did I say one has unbearable heat? Uh no, you are misquoting me for somebody else. I love hot and humid weather. The hotter, the better.
While Illinois can have heatwaves with actual temperatures hotter than Florida, and Florida can get "cool" but not "cold weather" (and certainly not on the level that Illinois can), the basic climatological fact remains that Florida rarely ever sees the type of cold possible in Illinois (in fact, more or less never, if we're talking extremes); it is persistently warm and humid in summer, to a level that Illinois rarely exceeds, when considering both mean temperatures AND dewpoints; and your argument is a load of steaming horse dollup.
The question asked if the heat of the South was overrated. I've lived in Florida and Illinois. Both had hot days, both had cold days. If the "heat of the South" was such a truism, it would be HOT all year long. I can assure you that it is not, unless you consider freezing temperatures to be "hot". I admitted that it was COLDER in Illinois, but that does not mean that it does not get cold in Florida. I would assume this applies to other states as well, but I have only lived in those two states.
I think the cold in the frigid north is underrated .
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