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I remember winters that we never had a frost and then those when we had hard freezes all the way back in the 50's. I've seen icicles the size of my leg hanging from grapefruit trees and grass that needed mowing all winter long on the FL ridge. FL winter is a crap shoot. Not many years back in November we had a very costly freeze down into the low 20's in November. Millions of dollars lost in one night. I'm not packing even long sleeve shirts for a non fun trip home.
Never had 20's in my part of FL in Nov. Maybe way up in north FL.
Never had 20's in my part of FL in Nov. Maybe way up in north FL.
When in my teens in the early 60's I lit smudge pots on night about 75 miles south west of you in the north side of Hardee county one night when the actual temp in the orange grove was 17°. I've seen it in the 20's a lot out in the ag sections of Polk County. That's over a 40 year span. I've only been in and out of the area a couple of times this last year and haven't paid much attention to the winter they had there. Less than 10 years ago there was a hard freeze in the mid 20's on the Polk/Hardee county line that destroyed hundreds of acres of squash, eggplant, & cucumbers that a family friend had in production. I got to harvest what I wanted just hours before the bottom fell out. I've seen 90+ on Halloween too.
When in my teens in the early 60's I lit smudge pots on night about 75 miles south west of you in the north side of Hardee county one night when the actual temp in the orange grove was 17°. I've seen it in the 20's a lot out in the ag sections of Polk County. That's over a 40 year span. I've only been in and out of the area a couple of times this last year and haven't paid much attention to the winter they had there. Less than 10 years ago there was a hard freeze in the mid 20's on the Polk/Hardee county line that destroyed hundreds of acres of squash, eggplant, & cucumbers that a family friend had in production. I got to harvest what I wanted just hours before the bottom fell out. I've seen 90+ on Halloween too.
That was when we had real winters. Just like the 80's we had real winters and then 1990 and BOOM it was over for good other than the freak 3 cold months in 2010. I remember Tampa at 29f on March 3rd in 1980. March was a cold month and had rain back in them days. Now it is nothing but above normal temps year after year and less and less rain since 2011.
We had temps of 19f to 24f year after year in the 1980's. I have not been below 35f in years and i am north of Tampa right on the gulf. I just don't remember any 20's in Nov since i kept records since 1978 when i was in Tampa until 04 and now on the gulf.
That was when we had real winters. Just like the 80's we had real winters and then 1990 and BOOM it was over for good other than the freak 3 cold months in 2010. I remember Tampa at 29f on March 3rd in 1980. March was a cold month and had rain back in them days. Now it is nothing but above normal temps year after year and less and less rain since 2011.
We had temps of 19f to 24f year after year in the 1980's. I have not been below 35f in years and i am north of Tampa right on the gulf. I just don't remember any 20's in Nov since i kept records since 1978 when i was in Tampa until 04 and now on the gulf.
You get warmth off of the Gulf that the center of the state misses. I've seen several winters way back when we got through with no frosts. I don't remember the year but late 80's I drove up I-75 and north of Ocala was snow and some ice on the road and the median and shoulders were littered with cars of people who had never driven in those conditions before. We didn't get away from those conditions until we got close to Atlanta. A cousin built a snowman in his orange grove over by Avon Park one year in the late 70's or early 80's. The year that it snowed north of Ocala all the citrus groves were killed to the ground along US 27 and now that land is cookie cutter housing. There are cold pockets in farming areas that get colder than airport temps also. I have not been in a winter in FL since 2015. I saw mild and frigid back to back in TN. So far we have had mostly mild this year here in southern AL. Mild but still Jan had more below Normal than above normal. I haven't checked Feb yet. I think I'll have shorter summers here than in FL and shorter winters than we had in TN. That's the plan anyway. I don't like extremes. As I aged I got tired of FL heat and humidity hitting me in the face leaving for work at 7:30 a.m. We always said if you don't like FL weather wait around for half an hour.... FL might be my home state but it isn't my favorite place to live.
You get warmth off of the Gulf that the center of the state misses. I've seen several winters way back when we got through with no frosts. I don't remember the year but late 80's I drove up I-75 and north of Ocala was snow and some ice on the road and the median and shoulders were littered with cars of people who had never driven in those conditions before. We didn't get away from those conditions until we got close to Atlanta. A cousin built a snowman in his orange grove over by Avon Park one year in the late 70's or early 80's. The year that it snowed north of Ocala all the citrus groves were killed to the ground along US 27 and now that land is cookie cutter housing. There are cold pockets in farming areas that get colder than airport temps also. I have not been in a winter in FL since 2015. I saw mild and frigid back to back in TN. So far we have had mostly mild this year here in southern AL. Mild but still Jan had more below Normal than above normal. I haven't checked Feb yet. I think I'll have shorter summers here than in FL and shorter winters than we had in TN. That's the plan anyway. I don't like extremes. As I aged I got tired of FL heat and humidity hitting me in the face leaving for work at 7:30 a.m. We always said if you don't like FL weather wait around for half an hour.... FL might be my home state but it isn't my favorite place to live.
Jan 19th 1977 is when Tampa had real snow. It stayed until noon in the shadows when i was in school. 1989 some say they saw some snow but not at my house in Tampa.
Jan 19th 1977 is when Tampa had real snow. It stayed until noon in the shadows when i was in school. 1989 some say they saw some snow but not at my house in Tampa.
We didn't see snow here this year even when temps were cold enough. I didn't miss it. I saw plenty while loading the last loads in TN for AL. This was the worst winter yet for the area of TN I was in over the last 5 years.
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