[BeachBum87]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

Exactly. The summers are long and brutal, and there's really nothing one can do about it.
Growing up in Montreal, the cold never really bothered me except for during EXTREME cold spells with high winds. We were outside playing at all hours for the most part in sub-zero temperatures. The key difference? We could clothe ourselves to protect from the cold.

Well, I grew up in Detroit, which has milder winters than Montreal or Toronto but still has (what most would consider anyway) brutal winters. Summers for me in Miami are a breeze compared to even a mild winter year in Detroit. Yes you will sweat in the summer, and run your AC for a long time but there is no "cabin fever" season like in the north. I'm still outside, I just avoid 10am-6pm unless I'm on the boat or the pool or the beach and if I'm on the boat/pool/beach then the weather is actually perfect.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by BeachBum87

Well, I grew up in Detroit, which has milder winters than Montreal or Toronto but still has (what most would consider anyway) brutal winters. Summers for me in Miami are a breeze compared to even a mild winter year in Detroit. Yes you will sweat in the summer, and run your AC for a long time but there is no "cabin fever" season like in the north. I'm still outside, I just avoid 10am-6pm unless I'm on the boat or the pool or the beach and if I'm on the boat/pool/beach then the weather is actually perfect.

I like summer in Florida because no other time of the year is hot enough for me to enjoy the pool, ocean, water park or natural spring.

[Robino1]

Florida summers: pool time! A/C for hubby and breezes on the shaded lanai for me. I'm so ready. Turning on the pool heater the 1st of March.

Edit to add: I think some of us acclimate better than others. I know I do faster than hubby because I am outside more than he is.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by BeachBum87

Well, I grew up in Detroit, which has milder winters than Montreal or Toronto but still has (what most would consider anyway) brutal winters. Summers for me in Miami are a breeze compared to even a mild winter year in Detroit. Yes you will sweat in the summer, and run your AC for a long time but there is no "cabin fever" season like in the north. I'm still outside, I just avoid 10am-6pm unless I'm on the boat or the pool or the beach and if I'm on the boat/pool/beach then the weather is actually perfect.

Ouch. I always thought Detroit was brutal, even coming from Montreal. I think this was mainly due to the lake effect and the high bone-biting winds.
But I get what you're saying. For some, yes, it is way too cold. It just never bothered me. Summers here in FL can get pretty nasty IMO. I do like the fact that I can do outdoor activities year-round here though, such as water sports, going to the beach, gardening, etc.

[BeachBum87]

Originally Posted by Arcenal352

Ouch. I always thought Detroit was brutal, even coming from Montreal. I think this was mainly due to the lake effect and the high bone-biting winds.
But I get what you're saying. For some, yes, it is way too cold. It just never bothered me. Summers here in FL can get pretty nasty IMO. I do like the fact that I can do outdoor activities year-round here though, such as water sports, going to the beach, gardening, etc.

Detroit doesn't really get much lake effect snow, since we're on the other side of a relatively small lake (St Clair). I think you're thinking of Buffalo.

Detroit averages 43 inches of snow, Montreal averages 90 inches. More than double. Detroit's coldest month is January with an average high of 32F and an average low of 19F, whereas Montreal in January averages just 22F for the high, and 10F for the low. Looking at sunlight hours, Detroit averages 2,400 hours a year compared to just 2,000 for Montreal.

Detroit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit
Montreal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal

I would say winter is a standard deviation worse in Montreal than Detroit.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by BeachBum87

Well, I grew up in Detroit, which has milder winters than Montreal or Toronto but still has (what most would consider anyway) brutal winters. Summers for me in Miami are a breeze compared to even a mild winter year in Detroit. Yes you will sweat in the summer, and run your AC for a long time but there is no "cabin fever" season like in the north. I'm still outside, I just avoid 10am-6pm unless I'm on the boat or the pool or the beach and if I'm on the boat/pool/beach then the weather is actually perfect.

You make it sound like northerners never go out in the winter. wrong, we go out and participate in many winter activities, in fact I go out a lot more for recreation in the winter up here in Montreal than I ever did in the summer when I lived in St Pete Florida. IMO if you are up north and feeling the cold then you just aren't dressed appropriately.

[BeachBum87]

Originally Posted by jambo101

You make it sound like northerners never go out in the winter. wrong, we go out and participate in many winter activities, in fact I go out a lot more for recreation in the winter up here in Montreal than I ever did in the summer when I lived in St Pete Florida. IMO if you are up north and feeling the cold then you just aren't dressed appropriately.

Never said "northerns don't go out in the winter" just that winter is cabin fever season in the north and this is an empirical fact. Detroit was never much of a walking city, neither are all of the Florida cities except for maybe Miami Beach (and even then, it's just South Beach) so the comparisons can be easily made. In Detroit, outdoor activity not only slows down dramatically in the winter, people are less likely to be outdoors than Miami in the summer.

Here in the summer I still see people jogging on the beach, I still see the al fresco dining sections of restaurants fill up in the evening, I see the bay full of boats to the point it's hard to find space on the sandbars, the pools and bbq areas are packed, I see the beach volleyball courts packed, etc.

In the winter in Detroit, it can sometimes feel like a ghost town especially when sunsets. I lived there 20+ years of my life. I also lived in Minneapolis. Same thing there. I haven't lived in Montreal - so I don't know but everyone tells me to visit in the summer because it's your peak season. I visited in the fall, and it was nice I guess. I bet if I came in the winter, pedestrian activity would be at a fraction of where it was at a fall. That doesn't mean that everyone is indoors and doesn't venture outside - it just means people venture outside a lot lot less.

[bmw335xi]

There are two types of people...

heat tolerant and cold tolerant

[BabyBoomers2]

We thought boating was done all year here, but found out very differently here in Jacksonville. In fact, our marine service highly suggest we either drain our boat block or get a complete “winterization” done around October or so. We have done both and glad we have. With the “brackish” and saltwater here, that can really do in an engine and/or outdrive, don’t want to take a chance in freezing the engine block here. It has been done a number of times here, we were told.

We are much more “foothills” and “mountains type couple than beach. We have come to find out just how much we miss rodeo action, big Bull Elk and freshwater lake boating/fishing.

[LKJ1988]

Originally Posted by LoveBoating

These aren’t summertime temps we are/have been having! Summertime temps are hot, in the 90’s with lots of humidity!

How long have you lived here? We’ve been here since Jan 2009, so we really know how it gets here in Jax in the summer. One word really describes it.....sweaty!!!

88f in Tampa today is about what we see in the summer. I have lived here 40+ years longer than you and this crap is not normal.