It's All About The Weather

DeBary, FL.

59 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Mostly sunny early in the morning then becoming partly sunny. Patchy morning fog. Highs around 80. South winds 5 to 10 mph increasing to 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon.


It's amazing how people think of the weather in different parts of the country. Down here in Florida, many people think the 50 deg. is cold. Up in Illinois, it doesn't get cold until the temperature drops below freezing and not really cold until it gets down to around zero.

You can usually tell which people live down here all year and which ones are "snowbirds" and come down for the coldest months. A little while back when the temperatures were only in the 50's for a high, the snowbirds were wearing long sleeved shirts and maybe a light jacket, while the Florida folks were all bundled up with heavy jackets and even gloves in some cases.

Then, of course, there's the humidity. Down here they don't even think it's humid until it gets up around 80 or 90%. Up North, it's much lower than that when it seems humid.

I guess it's just what you're used to. I think Jim and Linda are somewhere in the middle now. They're not used to the really cold weather up in Illinois anymore, but still have trouble tolerating the high temperatures and humidity down here during the summer months. Everyone says that if they stayed down here all year long, they'd get more comfortable with the summer conditions though.

Another thing about the weather down here is the fact that it's usually warm for the Christmas holidays. For folks from up North, it just doesn't seem right when the temperatures are so warm. This year, the forecast for Christmas Day is for temperatures to be in the upper 70's during the day and only getting down into the lower 60's or upper 50's at night.

For people that live up North, it's hard to imagine that you could actually be comfortable sitting outside while eating your Christmas dinner.

So, why am I telling you about the weather? Well, really no reason except to give the people who don't get to travel some idea of what the differences are. If you've never been in Florida or one of the other Southern States during the winter it's hard to imagine it being so warm most of the winter or so hot, and in some cases, so humid during the summer.

On the other hand, if you're from Florida or another Southern state and have never been up North in the winter, you just can't imagine it getting down to 0 deg. 

In any case, wherever you are, I hope you remember this. The grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence, but sometimes there's burs in it.  ; )  More than likely, no matter where you are, there will be things about the local weather that you don't like.

Did you kow that electric Christmas tree lights were first used in 1895? The idea for using electric Christmas lights came from an American, Ralph E. Morris. The new lights proved safer than the traditional candles.