When Will Pweople Realize Latitude 25-26 Is NOT A Tropical Zone (Miami: house, school)

[FlyMIA]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

I have no idea who that is nor do I see how it is relevant to my post.

Read earlier in the thread it was a joke. I pretty good one

[canefandynasty]

The only way one can truly know if Miami is a tropical climate or not, is to get a nice scenery of Miami while listening to any form of tropical music. It could be Carribbean, Hawaiian, African, etc... music as long as it's "sweet-sounding". If you get that paradise feeling while looking at Miami's scenery (especially within seconds), then Miami is tropical for sure.

I have tried it. And, I found myself subconsciously dancing on the beach for WEEKS. When I experimented the same thing with Tampa, I didn't get that feeling.

And LOL at Abu Dhabi being similar to Miami climatically.

[WINTERFRONT]

Originally Posted by hurricaneMan1992

LOL...By the OP's standard, the top of the Peruvian Andes (glaciers) and the top of Mauna Kea in Hawaii (snow) are "tropical," but Miami is not.

Tropical as in location, but not as in climate.

[valicky]

Originally Posted by Chelito23

Even if you have lived here for merely 5 years you should be well aware that people need the heat on at times over 1 to 3 months of the year, which is why many people's houses burn down due to space heaters every winter. People don't just buy those and use them for decoration. And there are always weeks in winter where the lows will be in the 40s and some nights in he 30s. It isn't just one night for moments. That is what the weathermen call extended cold snaps. Yes, it is below average, but is consistently happens and there is nothing unusual about it, just that people aren't used to it since it is relatively short lived...when compared to the other 9 months of the year that are balmy to hot.

Yes, the nights warm up after those cold snaps. But the cold snaps come on a consistent basis and we usually have a handful of extended cold nights over the 3 months of "winter". To deny that is to have your head in the sand. What is with people trying to deny the facts? I just don't get it. Saying Miami gets cold after a front comes through in the winter doesn't mean this is a bad city. Some people aren't playing with a full deck.

It's because people are so inexperienced with heaters because they hardly ever use them that the houses burn down. It's never weeks at a time where the lows are in the 40's and 30's. You'll have maybe 2 or 3 nights of that and then the lows will be up in the 50's again. It's never consistently cold for more than 2 or 3 nights in a row. I've never used the heater more than a handful of days a year. I'm not trying to deny anything. I'm already enviously looking at Tallahassee's nighttime lows of the 60's and some 50's already and I'm green with envy. I say 'bring it on!" I love it and wish we had more of it, but we just don't down here in the subtropics.

[FlyMIA]

I dont understand why people use heat down here ever. My parents use it sometimes I really dont understand it. In winters in Washington D.C. at my school they used to turn the AC off sometimes for months if it never got warm it was horrible. If it was in the 40s outside we did not want heat it was not cold enough, our rooms would be much too warm. In one building which did not have a central AC unit I would run the AC at 70 when it was 32 degrees outside, I want it to be nice in my home not warm like summer. People do not need heat in Miami. I know I would never use it.

[Chelito23]

Originally Posted by valicky

It's because people are so inexperienced with heaters because they hardly ever use them that the houses burn down. It's never weeks at a time where the lows are in the 40's and 30's. You'll have maybe 2 or 3 nights of that and then the lows will be up in the 50's again. It's never consistently cold for more than 2 or 3 nights in a row. I've never used the heater more than a handful of days a year. I'm not trying to deny anything. I'm already enviously looking at Tallahassee's nighttime lows of the 60's and some 50's already and I'm green with envy. I say 'bring it on!" I love it and wish we had more of it, but we just don't down here in the subtropics.

Well, wanting more cold nights in another story, but we do have cold snaps in the winter where several (more than two nights in a row) are in the 30s and 40s. We have weeks like that every winter. Not week after week, but a week here and there is a better way to put it. Highs in the 60s, lows in the 40s. Some love it some hate it and the news goes into action crisis mode and finds the cliché tourist still wearing shorts or trying to take a dip in the cold ocean. I know this may not seem cold to some, but compared to a tropical climate, it is. Although for people comming from up north, it is surprisingly cool most of the time because they expect 80 degrees!!!

I don't think people would own space heaters if they didn't NEED them. If it gets into the 40s for one or two nights only, it doesn't cool the house enough to make it cold. It is the week long cold snap that drops the inside temp to near 60 that makes people cold and go out and buy heaters for those prolonged stretches that occurr randomly but regularly every winter. Even in West Kendall where I think you live, Tamiami airport has lows in the upper 30s, I can't remember seeing a winter where they haven't.

I suppose this isue depends on your house's insulation as well, maybe the newer ones don't have temperature fluctuations as much as the older ones.

[Chelito23]

Originally Posted by FlyMIA

I dont understand why people use heat down here ever. My parents use it sometimes I really dont understand it. In winters in Washington D.C. at my school they used to turn the AC off sometimes for months if it never got warm it was horrible. If it was in the 40s outside we did not want heat it was not cold enough, our rooms would be much too warm. In one building which did not have a central AC unit I would run the AC at 70 when it was 32 degrees outside, I want it to be nice in my home not warm like summer. People do not need heat in Miami. I know I would never use it.

People here never turn off the AC much like the people in DC that never turn off the heat.

You do need heat here if you live in an older home that isn't well insulated. We can have cloudy and windy days in the winter where the highs are in the 60s and at night the temp drops to the 40s or upper 30s. That will make an older Florida home COLD. I have seen the temperatue in my house in the upper 50s during cold snaps, but I gave in and bought a space heater for those cold stretches.

It comes down to what people are used to, we aren't accostumed to touching cold appliances, feeling a cold toilet seat, not being abe to be bearfoot, etc. So when we feel these things and we are bundled up inside and still cold, we turn on the heat. Even many restaurants on SoBe have space heaters in the same areas they have AC on the outdoor dining areas during the cold snaps. You can't look at Miami's threshhold for what cold is and compare it to up north. Likewise, when we are excited about a cold front with lows in the 60s, we think about turning off the AC but a night with lows in the 60s in Chicago would probably have people turning on the AC.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Originally Posted by HumboldtParkShiner

however, if Miami is tropical then please point me in the direction of the nearest rainforest, id love to do some hiking

Oh..isn't there one of those in Sawgrass Mills? j.k.

Even in Hawaii, only a small part of the Islands, up in the mountains on the windward side, are actually rainforests. Most of Hawaii doesn't have lush vegetation because of recent lava flows and being in the trade winds. If Hawaii didn't have mountains, they wouldn't have rainforests. Other than mountains, most rainforests are in river basins. Many tropical atolls don't have true rainforests, though they usually have lush, tropical vegetation like us (Ever been to Fairchild gardens?). We don't have large areas of rainforests partly because of salt water intrusion from the east and the Everglades to the west. The narrow, lush "Hammocks" strip inbetween was cut down long ago. Remember, we're sitting on a coral reef, not deep in a river basin or on the side of a mountain.

[canefandynasty]

How is Fort Lauderdale an Af Koppen climate? Do they have more rainforests than Miami?

[perry335654]

Originally Posted by HumboldtParkShiner

and if you go outside in december/january and it is below 60 degrees, without elevation, you are definately NOT in the tropics. do u think people in puerto rico and jamaica are walking around in jackets during december and january too? do u think tree's lose their leaves at any point in these places anytime during the year? do u think palm tree's are always tinged yellow and brown from cold weather "snaps" in these places? if u do, u need to go out more brother. jamaica in december vs. miami in december is nothing, and I mean NOTHING alike. while it's nice to think that the US has a nice little mainland slice of tropical weather, the fact is is that it's just not so. were close, but not quite there.

however, if Miami is tropical then please point me in the direction of the nearest rainforest, id love to do some hiking

There was one until a condo development replaced it The developer took a bath on that decision.