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Weather... How Bad Is Bad?

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408

I read Patricia Kennedy's blog Weather Wimps? She is right. Weather (or better say our perception of it) is a funny thing. Same weather, same location, different perception.

Take Daytona Beach. Several days ago: air 67F, cold by our Daytona standards. People came from Midwest, they are in the Ocean. The ocean is 62F, freaking cold. Well, I am not sure it is much warmer in Midwest in summer anyway.

I remember swimming in July in 59F Black Sea. Not really pleasant, but what are you going to do if you are on vacation and this is all you can get?

When I came to Florida first time in winter, it was 57F and it was so wonderfully warm after New York. Last week we had 57F here and it was sooooooo cold.

When we moved to Florida my wife used to complain when the water in the ocean was 80F, that it was not refreshing, too warm. Now I can't get her in the water unless it is at least 80F, not enough warm.

Would you believe that she lived 14 years above the Arctic Circle where below -40F was not unusual? Kids in elementary school wold not go to school if the temperature dips below -40, but for high school kids there is no limit.

This was pre-computer era, and kids were out playing hockey no matter how cold it was. They actually were sweating...

Even 100" of snow would not stop and really slow down my Arctic Vorkuta. Main road need not to be ploughed as they built it high enough for the wind to clean it, and other roads would be cleared easily.

After 13 years in the Arctic, I ended up in Moscow and the first winter was just terrible. Damp, sleet, salt with sand was a slippery and ugly mess, and... no sun for a month and a half. So depressing. Hey, when I was in the arctic, the sun just wasn't there for months, and it never was that depressing.

Sure, there is no bad weather in the Arctic. And in Moscow you are entitled to some nice weather. It is the sense of entitlement that really makes a difference, not that much the weather itself. 

Have a nice winter, guys! And warm.

Patricia Kennedy
RLAH@properties - Washington, DC
Home in the Capital

Once I took a business trip to Miami and it was snowing!  It was still so much warmer than Washington!

I think that here is doesn't show quite often enough for them to maintain the snow clean up systems they have in Chicago.  We usually get one storm a year - and that's usually less than 4 inches.  And it usually melts in a few hours. 

Usually!

Jan 29, 2009 11:26 AM
William J. Archambault, Jr.
The Real Estate Investment Institute - Houston, TX

Jon,

Don't you know there is a Summer/Fall/Winter 67F and a Spring 57F (Not to be confused with the Princess on Howdy Dode show.) The former is freezing the latter wonderfully warm!

Bill

Jan 29, 2009 01:18 PM
Sharon Alters
Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty - 904-673-2308 - Fleming Island, FL
Realtor - Homes for Sale Fleming Island FL

After you've lived in Florida a few years, you do become a weather wimp. When we go back to Virginia or Atlanta, I confess I'm glad to come back to our climate! -40 I can't even fathom. You must have to be completely covered or you will get frostbite, right?

Jan 29, 2009 03:01 PM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Frank & Sharon - It depends. I worked at school, so I dressed no warmer than anyone in Boston or New york. All you need is 20-30 minutes to get to work and back. It is not the clothing, it is you. Just get used to that.

Different story when you have to be outdoors for hours. Then it is a different story. But then again, not to the extent that you may think.

Look, your face is open in winter in Florida, and in Canada, and in the Arctic. You adjust to the temperature. Yes, if they pick you now and drop in the Arctic, that would be a disaster, but if you are there in Summer, then the Fall, and then winter, it comes gradually and with each degree you adjust to it.

I lived in the north Urals, and in the middle of winter suddenly we were hit with -42-44F, and this was very unpleasant, as it was still humid, and foggy, and you could not see anything. And then, after a few days the weather went to -20-22F, which before the freeze felt like very cold, but now, after a few days with -42-44 it felt warm, you would unbutton the coat and loosen the scarf.

It is really very relative

Jan 30, 2009 01:42 AM
Sharon Alters
Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty - 904-673-2308 - Fleming Island, FL
Realtor - Homes for Sale Fleming Island FL

Goodness, Jon, to think of -20 being warm! But you do get used to the weather. I've gotten used to the weather here and now back home it seems too cold.

Jan 30, 2009 03:01 AM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Frank & Sharon - I am similarly scared of Phoenix. Too hot. Can you get used to it? I am sure you can.

Jan 30, 2009 07:07 AM
Jesse Clifton
Jesse Clifton & Associates - Fairbanks, AK

It really is relative.  I've been so cold in North Carolina I couldn't think straight but here I don't tend to think too much about it. 

Jan 30, 2009 07:39 AM
real estate real estate
Providence, RI

Jon,  my next destination will be either Florida or San Diego. Too cold in the north. Too much snow. It is relative but still below ice point is not fun.

Jan 30, 2009 11:53 AM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Jesse -  I am not sure I would trust your relativity, you are too far on one side of it (LOL)

Jan 30, 2009 01:40 PM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Huiting - It is a huge distance from Florida to San Diego. Guess you have not yet decided. Imagine a job of a realtor, who needs to find you a home (LOL)

Jan 30, 2009 02:38 PM
Anonymous
Kathleen Ann
Being a New Englander on the Atlantic Ocean coast and in the ocean state of Rhode Island you get used to the severe winters. This winter we have already had 3 snow storms and the temperature as been a steady below freezing for 2 straight weeks and single digits and the wind factor creating minus degrees. Our ponds and rivers are glacial places of ice, ideal for ice skating. Do I love it? I guess after 60+ years you get used to it and adjust. Layering of clothes and thermals help tremendously. Hot Chocolate and teas are very comforting. Would I like to move? Perhaps towards SC only because I would love to be closer to my grandsons, not particularly because of the weather. In fact I did not like their 100Plus heat in their summer. I actually had difficullty breathing and stayed indoors with the air conditioning.
Jan 31, 2009 02:10 PM
#11
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Kathleen -let's mispell some myths.

Myth number 1. The further south you go, the hotter it is. Not true. In Daytona Beach on the beachside, where I live it is very rare to have 90F. But it can go into the 90s.

If you check the summer weather in New York, it is not unusual to have 100F in New York, and it is practically never here in Daytona Beach.

We were with my wife in New York in July, and she was saying that it is too hot, and wanted to go home.

What is even funnier, if you fly to US Virgin Islands (another 1,100 miles from Miami), the highest temperature ever recorded was 99F.

So, maybe it makes more sense to go to Florida, where it is warmer in winter and cooler in summer than in South Carolina?

Jan 31, 2009 02:37 PM