Four Differences in the Weather Between North and South Florida

A recent proposal by a southern Florida politician is calling for South Florida to become its own state. This idea, to split the northern part of the state from the southern part, comes from political concerns regarding the rise in sea level, as some in South Florida do not feel that the state government in Tallahassee is addressing the problem.

But there's much more to North and South Florida than environmental concerns. Both regions of the state can experience different weather, too. Here's a look at four big weather differences between the two.

Chance of snow?

One of the biggest differences between North and South Florida is the potential for snow. Florida doesn't usually experience much snow, but it can happen, at least in the northern part of the state. 

Back in February 1958 areas of Tallahassee experienced up to 2.8 inches of snow. And just this January the area once again reported a trace of snow.

Jacksonville and Pensacola have also received 1 to 1.5 inches of snow, and even Daytona Beach has seen a trace of snow on multiple occasions.

Only one area in South Florida, however, has reported measurable snow (at least 0.1 inch), when Tampa saw 0.2 inch in January of 1977.

Clearly, South Florida needs to plan less for wintry weather than North Florida.

How low does the thermometer go?

Along with the chance for snow, North Florida also experiences temperatures below freezing. Most locations in North Florida see the thermometer drop to at or below freezing at least once a year.

Tallahassee actually has an average low temperature of 39 degrees from late December through most of January.

Meanwhile, most of South Florida rarely sees temperatures drop to the freezing mark. Since records began in 1872, Key West has never recorded a temperature at or below freezing. In fact, the coldest temperature recorded is 41 degrees, which occurred on January 13, 1981.

However, Orlando does see freezing temperatures, and Tampa does on occasion as well. The last time Tampa dropped below 32 degrees was on January 13, 2011 when the thermometer dipped to 31 degrees.

Consequently, South Florida will save on heating compared to North Florida.

Temperature extremes

North Florida also sees larger temperature extremes. Cold fronts do not always make it through South Florida, but they do bring changes in temperature and humidity to North Florida.

Average high temperatures for some of the North Florida cities (Tallahassee, Pensacola, Jacksonville and Daytona Beach) range from 60 to 92 degrees, while South Florida cities (Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Fort Myers and Key West) see average highs range from 70 to 92 degrees, a much smaller range. 

A similar story is seen in the average low temperatures, which range from 39 to 75 degrees for North Florida and 49 to 80 degrees for South Florida. 

This difference is even more apparent when looking at record temperatures. 

Pensacola reported a low temperature of 5 degrees on January 21, 1985, while the coldest temperature for the larger cities in South Florida is 18 degrees, recorded in Tampa on December 13, 1962. That is a 13 degree difference.

Pensacola also saw the highest temperature of the North Florida cities when it reached 106 degrees on July 14, 1980. The makes the difference between Pensacola's highest and lowest temperature 101 degrees.

Meanwhile, the highest temperature reported in South Florida is 103 degrees in Fort Myers in June 1981. So the range in temperatures is much greater in North Florida.

Rainfall differences

One more difference can be seen between North and South Florida: range in rainfall amounts.

South Florida sees a greater difference when comparing their driest month on average to their wettest month on average. 

Tampa, Orlando, Fort Myers, Miami and Key West see on average between 1.5 to 2 inches of rain in their driest month, and in their wettest month, the average rainfall ranges from 6.71 to 10.14 inches. This gives a range for those cities between 5.55 and 8.24 inches.

Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Pensacola and Daytona Beach see average rainfall amounts between 2.11 and 4.18 inches in the driest month, and between 6.96 and 8.19 in the wettest month. That's a range of 3.23 to 6.08 inches.

However, the average annual rainfall totals are very similar when comparing North and South Florida. The driest months for both tend to be in the winter, although a few spots in South Florida are driest in the spring. The wettest months for both run from June to September.

http://www.weather.com/forecast/news/north-south-florida-weather-differences-20141023