[RamenAddict]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

For winters, yes. But during the summer, aren't the highs in Orlando generally higher than Miami's? (Or than pretty much any part of the state for that matter.)

I think of the cities in Florida, Gainesville has gotten the hottest at 108. Otherwise, the north Florida cities tend to get hotter- Pensacola, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee have gotten to 105 or 106. Tampa and Miami have never reached 100 and Orlando and most of the other cities have gotten to around 100-102. For whatever reason, Tampa and Miami tend to be a little cooler during the summers than the other cities.

For the person who says Florida does not have microclimates- Jacksonville definitely does. It can be a good 10-15 degrees cooler at the beach and you can have completely different weather. It might be sunny and 75 downtown but foggy and 58 at the beach. During the mornings, the temperature difference is usually at least 10 degrees, sometimes 20.

[Cathte]

so I am gathering that if you do not enjoy hot, humid weather your air conditioning will be on 24/7??

[double6's]

Originally Posted by Cathte

so I am gathering that if you do not enjoy hot, humid weather your air conditioning will be on 24/7??

pretty much..we live in southwest florida..air on constantly between the months of May and October..right now our windows are open..usually between November and April..

[grad_student200]

Originally Posted by vicki_c

If you love the hot weather, you're in the right place. If you love fall leaves, you're not. The number one thing I disliked about Florida was the lack of seasons. I personally felt that it was the same there all the time, just sometimes more rainy than others. I truly could see very little difference between January and August, except for lower temps and humidity. I thought everything looked the same pretty much all year round. I lived there for 2 years (Space Coast area), so maybe after longer you just get used to it. The dry season is during the winter (usually about Jan - March, I think). The wet season is the summer (June - Sept). If you've been there through the summer, you've already seen the worst temperatures, but it doesn't start to cool off (for an Ohio-er) until November. We went to the beach on Thanksgiving and it was warm enough to swim! The heaviest jacket I ever wore was a Polar fleece jacket that would have been appropriate in northeast Ohio in the early October timeframe. No jackets needed by April (early April). Hope that helps. I know I sound negative, and I am - I hated Florida, but everyone likes different things!

I agree. I left Florida as well. I worked with Buckeye fan from Ohio who quit his job and moved back there a few months ago. He did so very abruptly. He just got tired of the FL Panhandle (in my opinion).

I lived mostly in Tallahassee but did live a year in South FL at Davie. I worked by MIA for six months.
North FL is relatively much colder in the winter. Many times it was 35-45 degrees in Tallahassee in Oct-Feb but it was 20-30 degrees warmer in Fort Lauderdale.

I figured out why that happens in the winter. South FL benefits from the thermal ocean current that (1) keeps temperatures relatively cool compared to North FL in the summer and (2) keeps temperatures relatively warmer in the winter as well.

So North FL is far colder in the winter and far warmer in the summer. Both North and South FL are very, very humid. Pests and termites are a major problem for home owners throughout the state. The hurricanes are also harsh. I actually rode out my first hurricane in Tallahassee last fall. Miami had the infamous Hurricane Andrew back in the 90s. Hurricane Katrina which destroyed many Gulf city neighborhoods actually hit Miami first a few days earlier back in 2005.

In contrast, it does snow on rare occasions. Florida does have a history of snow and even a few blizzards - but mostly in North FL. One year in Panama City my door froze stuck - rare for FL. It felt like Denver that day.

But FL is mostly warm, humid, and flat.