Opinion about Florida weather (humidity)

[Joe_Ryder]

I live in CA. It's been below freezing every night for a couple weeks. That used to be unheard of but it seems to be the norm the past few years. Summer temps frequently hover above 100 for weeks or months. Some neighborhoods in my area hit 118. Sounds fun, huh?
I spent last year in Minnesota. Late summer was pretty warm. Fall lasted for 3 days and winter came. Can you imagine -40? Can you imagine the temps not getting above 20 for 5 solid months? How about constant sub-zero for 3 of those months? You might think it would have cool summers but you'd be wrong. Picture 95-100 with high humidity and not a hint of a breeze. I went back to CA not because of the Minnesota winters but because of the summer... and the fact that rural Minnesota can be quite boring.

I was raised in Houston so I'm a bit familiar with heat and humidity.

Generally speaking, the central coastal region of CA isn't too hot. 85 daytime temp is about average for most of the summer but, and it's a big but, on this side of the Sierras, it doesn't rain in the summer. Some people think dry heat is better than wet but I tend to disagree. When you haven't seen rain for 6 or 7 months, the air can be hard to breathe. Do you guys have "Spare the Air" days? Those are the nice hot and dry days where people with even mild lung problems are advised to stay inside. If you don't have lung problems, you will. Winter is much cooler but being the lower end of the Pacific Northwest, it tends to drizzle constantly for months on end. The last two years have been drought and therefore unusually cold. We'll be looking at water rationing again by spring. The weather man has been promising rain by the end of the week but I have my doubts.

Lot's of folks in FL complain of the low wages but don't realize you have to look at more than raw numbers. I'd be willing to bet a $900 heating bill for a single month is pretty rare in FL. Monthly winter bills in many norther states average between $300-$500/ month and winters can be very long. Wages in CA are 15-20% higher than most places but the cost of living is anywhere from 25 to 100% higher than most of FL depending on where you live. From my perspective at least, Fl is looking pretty good. I can deal with a couple months of unpleasant temps. No place is perfect after all. If you want to white water kayak every weekend, then you will have to deal with the Pacific Northwest. If you want to live in a tropical environment, you have to deal with the heat.

This morning when I got up and noticed my knees were aching and had to walk across a cold tile floor and sat my rear down on that icy porcelain throne, I was thinking how nice it would be to hop in a sauna.

[Carl de Lima]

I am in England, it is so cold I have two pairs of socks and shoes on.....central heating is on full and I still cannot feel my toes!!! Will consider USA gold coast for immennent retirement and promise not to moan about the 10 months of summer weather

[bnepler]

If it's too hot for them, stay out of the kitchen....

[tallrick]

I would prefer every day to be 30-40 at night and 70 for a high. The only exceptions would be the rainy days where it might get to 80-85 before the sky explodes with thunderstorms. Ideally at least one rainy day per week. I don't know what it is, but cool or "cold" florida weather is to my liking. I always hated May-October except for the rainy season.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by tallrick

I would prefer every day to be 30-40 at night and 70 for a high. The only exceptions would be the rainy days where it might get to 80-85 before the sky explodes with thunderstorms. Ideally at least one rainy day per week. I don't know what it is, but cool or "cold" florida weather is to my liking. I always hated May-October except for the rainy season.

That's my favorite weather too!

But I have to say, that even when we are having our hot and humid months, there are still days mixed in there where it really isn't so bad. Like when we have our thunderstorms and it cools off, or when it's breezy. I don't mind living here at all, but I do enjoy getting up to our Asheville mountain home. Many months of beautiful weather there, and even during their winter they will have a few ice storms, but will also have many sunny days mixed in where it's quite nice and beautiful.

I just would not want to live anywhere where the weather is too extreme, and NO - Florida weather is NOT extreme by any means. Not, IMO.

[tampaguy03]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

That's my favorite weather too!

But I have to say, that even when we are having our hot and humid months, there are still days mixed in there where it really isn't so bad. Like when we have our thunderstorms and it cools off, or when it's breezy. I don't mind living here at all, but I do enjoy getting up to our Asheville mountain home. Many months of beautiful weather there, and even during their winter they will have a few ice storms, but will also have many sunny days mixed in where it's quite nice and beautiful.

I just would not want to live anywhere where the weather is too extreme, and NO - Florida weather is NOT extreme by any means. Not, IMO.

Since we are giving our ideal weather, I LOVE temps in the evening to be in the 50's, and temps during the day to be in the upper 70's. But I also enjoy floating around in the Gulf or pool on a hot day..and those amazing thunderstorms in the afternoons during the summer months.

[ocean7breeze]

I lived the most of my life up north, and lived in Tampa last year and going back next year.

It didn't take me long to miss the change of seasons, however for someone that hates the cold as much as I do, I much would rather have that than what we have outside right now!

Right now I think is in the mid 20's outside. When it gets really cold here w/ the artic blasts with the wind chill it gets below 0. The day I remember the most was a few years ago. I was coming back from work and it was night time. It was 45 below zero w/ the windchill and my heater decided to break that day!

I was SOOOO cold and I would much rather have a 10 month summer than a 4 month winter!

That is why I need to relocate!

[stpeteguy]

Florida is great 9 months out of the year. July, August and September suck though. But it sucks everywhere at some point on the calendar.

[JohnVosilla]

Originally Posted by stpeteguy

Florida is great 9 months out of the year. July, August and September suck though. But it sucks everywhere at some point on the calendar.

I actually like July as it is hot most everywhere in mid summer so we can't complain..the humidity feels tolerable, we get the nice ocean breeze and never worry about hurricanes. It is June (way too humid with constant thunder showers) and August-Oct (add in hurricanes) that are brutal to me.. Then add since global warming April and May(what happened to spring it is 87/73 every day already) and November (when will we finally get to open the windows?)..lol

[atlantagreg30127]

I gotta say Florida just doesn't do it for me. I've been there a few times and have relatives who live on the East Coast (West Palm).

I'm hypoglycemic though. Sweating a lot makes the sugar go nutty it seems oddly, so 12 months of sweat would drive me nuts. Plus having three large dogs I'd have to evac with every time a hurricane came through would drive me nuts. The "sudden thunderstorm every day" thing seems to happen every time I'm down there. ARGH. I suppose if I splurged on a whole house generator to be able to run the A/C when the outages from storms hit I'd be better about it, though. LOL.

Regardless of the argument from some folks, there has been a slow climate change over the years. I've been living in Atlanta since 1984, and back then we had four very distinct seasons, and got at least a little snow every single year in winter. It was incredibly to nearly never that you saw 100 degree days. These days we never see snow, and we've had nearly a whole week here and there of 100 degree temps in the summer the last couple of years. Fortuantely though, it does eventually go away. Autumn is my time of year. If I didn't see the leaves change in Autumn I think eventually that would wear me down mentally.