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I still think it's more of a temperature issue with Miami. Unless, you're right on the beach pretty much every part of Dade County has dropped into mid to high 20sF. Imagine what happens to a tropical rainforest when it drops several degrees below freezing. If you can't grow Coconut Palms in Miami without worrying they'll be damaged every decade or so, how do you grow a rainforest? It's true rainforest can recover, but freezing is bit too much IMO. THat's why yuou only see temperate and hardier tropical plants in Miami.
I still think it's more of a temperature issue with Miami. Unless, you're right on the beach pretty much every part of Dade County has dropped into mid to high 20sF. Imagine what happens to a tropical rainforest when it drops several degrees below freezing. If you can't grow Coconut Palms in Miami without worrying they'll be damaged every decade or so, how do you grow a rainforest? It's true rainforest can recover, but freezing is bit too much IMO. THat's why yuou only see temperate and hardier tropical plants in Miami.
Miami suffers the same fate all of the eastern US does, arctic fronts from Canada. In Jan 2010, Havana had temps in the 30's and people died. The wind was coming straight out of the north down the FL penisula and into Cuba will little moderation.
The only thing that would have drastically changed the climate is if the Rockies ran east-west, then all of FL would probably be frost free, as well as Texas.
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Originally Posted by tom77falcons
Miami suffers the same fate all of the eastern US does, arctic fronts from Canada. In Jan 2010, Havana had temps in the 30's and people died. The wind was coming straight out of the north down the FL penisula and into Cuba will little moderation.
The only thing that would have drastically changed the climate is if the Rockies ran east-west, then all of FL would probably be frost free, as well as Texas.
Going by averages the southern half of Florida is actually warm for it's latitude. It's just it's 'bottom end' is so cold. If Houston was anywhere else in the world, snow would be almost unheard of, or at best a one in 100 year event. It's just these arctic fronts drive temperatures down so much lower than normal.
Miami suffers the same fate all of the eastern US does, arctic fronts from Canada. In Jan 2010, Havana had temps in the 30's and people died. The wind was coming straight out of the north down the FL penisula and into Cuba will little moderation.
The only thing that would have drastically changed the climate is if the Rockies ran east-west, then all of FL would probably be frost free, as well as Texas.
Rio de Janeiro also sees a flurry of winter(barely, but sees). Since I keep brazilian climate under my eyes(2004), I remember sept. 2006, Rio got a low of 8ºC/46ºF, recorded at official station at less than 10 feet above sea. But Rio has a lot of hills(highest point is 3359 feet tall) where temps got near freezing point. Its only difference lies in the fact of south cold finds a lot more barriers before it can penetrate Rio de Janeiro, so, at least once a year, lows get nearly freezing as in Miami.
i lived in both cities and both climates are identical but reversed:there is a marked rainy and dry season in both,actually Miami has much warmer and stable long summers than Rio which is kinda schocking since Rio is located at 22,6 lat and miami is above at 25.Rio has only slightly winters during a couple of months and the ocean water is colder than the ocean temperature in Miami in the middle of the winter.Miami is warmer than Rio on a yearly basis.[CENTER] to Destination Overview Destination Overview
Show: Average HighAverage LowAverage Precipitation
Weather At-a-Glance:On Average:
Miami, FL is warmer than Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by 1°F.
Miami, FL is wetter than Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by 12.2 in.
Records:
Miami, FL recorded the highest temperature of 100°F in 1942.
Whoever said that Rio is wetter than Miami is wrong,Miami receives much rainfall during the year,that's true south florida is very warm for its latitude comparing to some cities in the southern hemisphere in Brazil or argentina for example at the same latitude,are much colder than Miami and Key west.The main difference is that Rio looks more like Los angeles but of course is much beautiful since its totally tropical and Miami is tropical but flat,both cities have a beutiful flora and fauna with crazy wildlife,but the only thing that you don't find in Miami are monkeys while you can find them free in Brazil but i saw a lot of rare wildlife in Miami especially some very rare caribbean birds and of course lots of iguanas even running free in the streets.Rio has much more natural beauty than Miami,Miami Beach would have much more beauty ifthey remove those ugly skyscrapers in front of the beach,they totally destroy the natural beauty of the beach and the are all white and look depressing and the same.at least they were tall constructions with different colors.i dont know how people like those articial condos that ruin the environment.
Rio de Janeiro also sees a flurry of winter(barely, but sees). Since I keep brazilian climate under my eyes(2004), I remember sept. 2006, Rio got a low of 8ºC/46ºF, recorded at official station at less than 10 feet above sea. But Rio has a lot of hills(highest point is 3359 feet tall) where temps got near freezing point. Its only difference lies in the fact of south cold finds a lot more barriers before it can penetrate Rio de Janeiro, so, at least once a year, lows get nearly freezing as in Miami.
Miami Beach has a record low of 32F, while coastal Rio's record low is in the 40s. Miami Beach is pretty much on an island. Inland Miami has gotten into the mid to high 20sF on several occasions (1989, 2010), while you say Rio's hills get temperatures near freezing? I don't find it fair that you compare the coldest parts of Rio to Miami anyway. Rio will always be more stable then Miami (even the Gulf Stream can't stop those blue northerners) and any other coastal near tropical locations in the continental U.S., including Key West.
Has coastal Rio ever had 6 days straight with highs under 65F with lows in the 50s and 40s? Key West has, History : Weather Underground.
Average temperatures in the southern U.S. don't mean much, because our weather is never predictable. For example Houston has an average January temperature of 54F, but the record low is 9F!
Most of the iguanas died in the last cold snap here in Miami. Miami does have lush trees, in some areas...but the problem has been rampant growth in areas, that has not protected the trees, or provided adaquate water for the trees to survive, Miami has had several years of drought, less precipatation than normal. One thing about Miami, is the enormous amount of stray cats, that manage to not only survive in this climate, but thrive, there are several colonies of feral cats in Miami, that have reduced the numbers of native birds. There are wild parrots that fly in flocks around Miami, they escaped from Parrot Jungle during the last hurricane, and continue to live wild. There is a band of monkeys in an area north of Miami, but they are few, and have been eating food from tourists.
I think the iguanas, like some of the other animals, aren't really native but escapees from exotic pets. It's probably among the reasons why they couldn't take the cold spells very well.
Key west at 24 lat is warmer than Rio at 23 lat, ,Miami Beach the island and Rio have the same averages temperatures on a yearly basis.Also Miami is much warmer than Sao paolo and other Brazilian cities around the latitude...
The average temperatures are the same for Miami Beach, FL and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Miami Beach, FL is wetter than Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by 0.3 in.
Records:
Miami Beach, FL recorded the highest temperature of 98°F in 2005.
Rio de janeiro lowest temperature ever recorded was 4.8 c so there isn't a huge difference than Miami,Sao Paolo did even worse than Key west and Miami with a freezing -2.1 c and is located at 23 in the tropics,people exagerate about the freezes in Miami when you can find similar record temperature at the same latitude in the southern hemisphere.Here are some record temps in Brazil the do get cold there as in the north hemisphere but of course is a very very rare event as in south florida.
BRAZIL
Brasilia 1.6* 35.8* * extreme temperatures of 1.3C and 36.0C were recorded at the Airport station
Sao Paulo -2.1* 37* * unofficial temperatures of -4C and 38.5C were recorded in other city stations
Rio de Janeiro Center10.2* 39.1* * extreme temperatures of 4.8C and 43.1C were recorded in other parts of the city
Curitiba -6.3* 35.2* * unofficial temperatures of -8.9C and 37.4C were recorded in other stations
Campinas -1.5 38.9
Foz do Iguacu -4.1 40
Florianopolis 1.3* 38.8 http://www.mherrera.org/temp.htm
Rio de Janeiro also sees a flurry of winter(barely, but sees). Since I keep brazilian climate under my eyes(2004), I remember sept. 2006, Rio got a low of 8ºC/46ºF, recorded at official station at less than 10 feet above sea. But Rio has a lot of hills(highest point is 3359 feet tall) where temps got near freezing point. Its only difference lies in the fact of south cold finds a lot more barriers before it can penetrate Rio de Janeiro, so, at least once a year, lows get nearly freezing as in Miami.
Interesting...but to be honest, that doesn’t really surprise me however. Like Miami, Rio really is at the far northern limit of the true tropics (23.5 N – 23. 5 S). So a few nights a year chilly temps can be expected. If the number and brevity of chilly nights in Rio are anything like that of Miami I’m sure they are quite brief.
How often does Rio see nights in the 40’s (4 – 9 c)? Since our landmass is bigger I would expect we would see more nights in the 40's in Miami than you would in Rio.
For fun and did a quick scan of all the sub 50 F (10 C) nights at Miami International Airport (where the official weather station is) over the last 5 years (including the past two record breaking winters of 2009/2010 and 2010/2011). I would be interested to see what the same data for Rio would look like:
If you know a good link to Rio climate data post it here, I would love to take a look.
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