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Florida has a wonderful climate. Lovely summers, I don't know why anyone can think they are too hot. Being on a peninsula, the summer temps are moderated, and average maxes are only about 90°F which is lower than many other places much much further north and inland. And, far far better summers than the ovenly-hot dry, itchy crap in Arizona or California. The humidity is much better for the skin. That and the mild winters with no cold and no requirement for heating and excess clothing makes it a paradise. It gets many thunderstorms too so that just tips me in favour of it here.
Must you nitpick? Okay, perhaps it isn't chilly all that often,
but I think it's retarded to think that Brownsville's lower winter temperatures are an advantage.
I've BEEN to South Florida many times in winter.
I've watched people's behavior. Almost nobody there seems upset about winter weather.
So why would going even cooler and much cloudier be so much better?
A typical winter evening in Miami, say 8pm is a horrid 63-70 F... Truely revolting?
By comparison, Brownsville at 8pm is probably 64-56 F...*** Ahhh, isn't it grand that short sleeves feel bad? ***
Okay, apart from seeing an occaisional dusting of snow for weather interest.
Not that I want to see any more snowfalls, but it could be a possible advantage for some people.
But most of the winter in Brownsville makes their winter seem ugly by comparison.
I just don't understand why an average winter day in Brownsville would be better for some people than an average winter day in Miami... unless they hate warmth and sun, in which case they'd probably hate both climates overall.
I agree with you that Miami or South(East) Florida is by far better than Brownsville in the winter.
Southeast Florida (West Palm Beach and South) has tropical climate according to Koppen, meaning the average monthly temperatures are always over 18C (64.4F). Average temperatures in WPB is just over 18C in January (the coldest month), whereas Brownsville is classified as subtropical according to Koppen, meaning the average monthly tempertaures in Jan and possibly Feb are colder than 18C (64.4F).
Southeast Florida benefits from 2 geographical influences, namely warm air from the Caribean and the gulf current which brings warm water to Southeast Florida.
According to my research, the gulf stream (warm water) flows like this:
- Hot/warm water from the Equator flows from Africa to the Caribean.
- Then the main "volume" of warm water flows between South America and Cuba.
- Then it loops upwards between Cuba and Cancun Mexico.
- Then it continues to flow South of the Florida Keys. The warm water hardly or never reaches South WEST Florida (Sarasota, Ft Myers, Naples) because it was blocked by the Florida Keys. This warm water only reaches somewhere just North of Cancun Mexico as there's no "escape" route in the Gulf of Mexico.
- On the other hand, this warm water continues to loop northward along the Miami/West Palm Beach coast line until the coast line of East Florida "bends" westward just North of West Palm Beach, somewhere near Port St Lucie.
So, with the warm air of the Caribbean and warm water, it makes southeast Florida tropical.
Also, Naples to Bonita Springs are also tropical with Fort Myers at the border line of tropical and subtropical.
Actually the humidity is surprisingly high on the Gulf Coast of Texas, considering they get much lower rain totals than the southeastern US coast. If there's any difference in humidity, Brownsville's might be like 5-10% lower humidity, but with temperatures that are 4-6 F (2-3 C) higher, meaning the heat index should still be higher. I remember seeing Houston's humidity was impressive, higher than on the Carolina coast, though drier rain, and Corpus Christi's humidity nearly as bad, equal or higher than the Carolina coast again, despite Corpus Christi being nearly semi-arid.
I live about 5 minutes from downtown Corpus Christi, which is about 140 miles north of Brownsville. Corpus Christi is often touted as being among the most humid cities in the country. Humidity here is exceptional; thank goodness for the nice seabreeze than inudates the entire coastal bend to Brownsville.
Yes, Miami does enjoy a milder winter. Think about it, though. You have ocean on your east, south, and to the west (Gulf of Mexico). Even though artic fronts do go through Florida, they are very tempered by the fact they have to cross ocean water, which is typically in the 60s to low 70s during the winter. Thus, they don't have quite the effect that you will get in Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen, Laredo, San Antonio, or Houston. If Florida was in the same situation as you have in Texas, Miami would get EVERY BIT AS COLD as anywhere in Texas. Why do you suppose Key West has never had a temperature lower than the 40s? It is completely surrounded by water, is why. Plus, with the thin Florida landmass, anything from the north has already been tempered by the Gulf and Atlantic.
As far as major cold spells go, all of deep S. Texas enjoys a very warm winter, compared to most of the rest of the country. In the latest 1981-2010 averages, Corpus Christi averages 68/49 in December, 67/47 in January, and 70/51 in February. Average first/last freeze in Corpus Christi is December 20/January 29. For Brownsville, wintertime averages (1981-2010) are as follows: 72/53 for December, 71/52 for January, 74/55 for February. First/Last freeze is December 29/January 10 (with 53% confidence). Thats hardly what I would call "cold", even given a "cool" snap or two.
Which of the two would I choose? Tough call. Winters are fairly similar, as even S. Florida DOES get cold snaps (I do recall that most years, even the western suburbs of Miami typically see a few freezes every year). S. Texas can get to summertime temps at times in the middle of winter; a case in note is that the highest January temp in the lower 48 in the USA came from Laredo with 98 degrees. San Antonio has seen 100 in February. I know a few February's ago that many cities across the RGV (McAllen, Edinburg, Harlingen) saw temps that got as high as 104. Since being in the Corpus area, I have seen wintertime night temps that have stayed in the 70s all night. So, again, there really isn't much difference.
Other than the 2 geographical influence (warm air from the Caribbean & warm water along the Florida Keys and Southeast coast of Florida), there's a 3rd weather pattern that makes SE FL and the Keys have a very short cold snap, in terms of 1 or 2 days in Jan normally (my standard though).
This 3rd influence is the "angle" of the cold front from Canada.
The cold fronts don't travel in a straight horizontal line but at an angle, always or mostly in lower lattitude (West) to higher lattiude (East) or the isotherm line.
Fort Myers and West Palm Beach are on the same lattitude but why's Fort Myers always colder than WPB (lows) and last longer ? It is because when the cold front reaches Fort Myers (West), the same cold front is between Jacksonville and Daytona Beach or even further North on the East. This explains why Fort Myers already feels the cold snap while WPB is still enjoying the warm weather, by the time the cold snap reaches WPB, it's already tempered by the warm temperatures from Jacksonville/Daytona Beach, that extra distance weakens the cold front by a couple of degrees.
That's why the average lows (Jan) in WPB is around 15C (59F) whereas it is 12C (54F) in Fort Myers. This 2 or 3 degrees C (5F) difference pushes Fort Myers to the borderline of tropical/subtropical climate.
Key West: Much warmer (lows) because the actual cold front that reaches Key West started somewhere from the top of the Gulf of Mexico, then travels all the way along the Gulf (not on the Fl peninsula). The relatively warmer Gulf water (not as warm as the Atlantic water along WPB/Miami) moderates the cold front, so by the time it reaches Key West, the cold air is already warmed up the the moisture of the Gulf, hence making Key West warmer (lows) than WPB/Miami.
Brownsville: 35F, freeze warning in effect just North of Brownsville
Miami: Cold front moving through South Florida, Miami 62F, West Palm Beach 57F
Your point?
Here is an example on the flip side of things. Take last December, specifically, December 15th, 2010.
Miami International: High 62, Low 38.
Brownsville: High 79, Low 64.
Works both ways.
Ian
P.S. on the 14th, Miami International had a COLD high of 53 after a chilly morning low of 36. You can bet your rear the outer parts of the city had a freeze going too.
My point is to indicate it could get down to near freezing this early.
I agree with you that there's a flip side, but I kind of recall in general southeast Florida is warmer than Brownsville based on the average highs & lows in Jan & Feb.
I have been concentrating on temperatures stats in SE Florida, SW Florida and Orlando (I looked at the stats in the past 10 or 20 yrs), then I looked at stats of the past few years for Brownsville and noticed SE FL was warmer than Brownsville.
Fl experienced record cold spell in Jan 2010, but I recall Jan 2011 was a much better month (warmer) compared to Jan 2010.
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