I guess it makes sense that because of the shorter summer days and high humidity they don't see highs that are that extreme there. Still seems a bit unexpected if you're going by simpler mental models where "south == warmer".
I dug up this map (which isn't very good, maybe someone has a better one) where it shows the highest temps in various places. Florida is behind states like Oregon and Washington.
The humidity really does make a big difference though. Here east of the Cascades in Oregon it's quite dry, so even on a hot day, a bit of shade, breeze and a cool drink makes for pleasant conditions.
atmavatar · 11h ago
That's part of it, but a much larger part of the reason Florida has a narrower temperature range is that it's surrounded by huge bodies of water.
TheCleric · 10h ago
Also Florida is FLAT. Kansas looks downright hilly by comparison. So there’s no natural elevation to break up wind patterns moving across the state.
thehappypm · 9h ago
Not to diverge too much but Florida has some interesting topography
South Florida is basically all coral and sand at a few dozen feet above sea level except for the small ridge on the east coast (peaking at a whopping 86 feet) which provides the bedrock for Miami.
Central florida gets up to ~300 feet, downright alpine compared to south Florida.
Then you have the panhandle, which has the highest point in Florida, which isn’t surprising because it’s actually on the main continental block of North America
davidw · 9h ago
Right - the Willamette Valley in Oregon isn't that far from the coast, with predominant westerlies coming from over a very chilly ocean. But the Coast range is tall enough to block some of the chilly moisture from over there.
fingerlocks · 3h ago
No surprise to anyone who has passed through
the high desert or steppe butte wasteland extending nearly the full length of 120°W-ish of the NW hemisphere. The conditions in Bishop California are effectively the same all the way to Okanagan British Columbia.
jauntywundrkind · 9h ago
For reports like this I tend to turn to the University of Maine's excellent Climate Reanalyzer, which has a nice "temperature anomaly" view of the world. Click the "Show T2" button below the graph: https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/t2_daily/?dm_id=world
It looks like Tampa's not really that much better than usual? But on the north rim of the Gulf of a Mexico, there's some decent sized temperature anomolies.
wewewedxfgdf · 12h ago
Nothing can be done, so learn to live with it.
That's the new political position all around the world.
futureshock · 9h ago
It does seem like that’s our new political reality for now. I think that COVID showed world governments just how little control they have over their populations. You get folks to bend a little, but they quickly break and call for you to be thrown out of power. Getting to carbon zero or negative would be asking for an enormous sacrifice of the global population in the form of lower living standards and slower growth. After how people fought against masks, a shot and social distancing, it’s obvious to those in power that there will be no solution to this problem aside from geo-engineering or cost competitive green energy. Might as well stop talking about it.
dh2022 · 6h ago
Oh but the population will have to sacrifice - there is no way food supply will not be affected. Florida’s orange production in 1996 was 174 million boxes[0] since 2020 it is around 52 million boxes[1]. Beef production is lower because of drought [3].
There are parts of the country which are not insurable because of hurricanes, fires, floods and tornadoes [4]. This is an indicator that anything built will not be around for a long time.
I think the idea that it would lower living standards is something the fossil fuel companies would have you believe.
thehappypm · 9h ago
in my opinion, the solution needs to be technological, not austerity. In a democracy, any party that introduces quality of life reductions in favor of the global climate will always get voted out
lisbbb · 6h ago
This surprises me because I've been to FL in the summer 2-3 times now and it was unbelievably hot and humid everywhere. For Tampa to be all "we never hit this temp before" seems unlikely to me since the whole damn place was a furnace in the high 90s no matter where you went. I will only go winter/early spring now. I never have had time in the fall.
toomuchtodo · 13h ago
While sitting on the tarmac waiting to fly out of Tampa this morning, my daughter commented “How much hotter can it get?” with all of the aircraft window shades drawn like something out of Neal Stephenson’s “Termination Shock.” “Coolest year for the rest of your life” was all I could muster. I simply don’t understand those who don’t believe this is happening. Good luck to all, stay cool out there.
davidw · 12h ago
Best we can do is stop measuring it, I guess.
WarOnPrivacy · 12h ago
Ha. We're a little north of there and were dealing with screaming hvac condenser fan motor yesterday. I ordered another motor and a start capacitor but it'll be a few days before they're in.
Once the motor cooled enough to be handled, son #3 disassembled it, smoothed out the shaft and applied some super sticky grease. Motor spins freely but only starts sometimes. I've got a construction fan on top, blowing up for now.
toomuchtodo · 7h ago
Do you need assistance?
WarOnPrivacy · 6h ago
That's nice of you. Thank you. It's just a condenser fan motor and replacing the (budget) dual run cap with an AmRad. Hardest part is threading the motor lines back thru the conduit after forgetting to pull a line first.
I was uncertain whether the cap's tolerance difference mattered. Existing is half rubbed off and shows something like ?0/-5% and replacement is ±16/±16%. But #3 knows caps and says we're good.
mindslight · 7h ago
Jumper the fan so it just stays on all the time, at least during the day?
Be aware with the fan on top, sucking air gives much less cooling capacity than blowing air (the intake flow is mostly laminar).
I had an oil burner motor that would occasionally fail to start up. Subtle rough spot on one of the bearings, so if it stopped in that exact place it didn't have the torque to start spinning.
WarOnPrivacy · 6h ago
> Jumper the fan so it just stays on all the time, at least during the day?
As of today the fan isn't starting and the external fan draw isn't spinning the blades any more. Bushings are at least part of that.
We've got a replacement cap to try anyway but the motor won't be in until Thur.
> Be aware with the fan on top, sucking air gives much less cooling capacity than blowing air
Gotta work with what we got. It's enough to stave off thermal locking.
The house has 2 units and we're setting that stat higher and supplementing with fans.
poulsbohemian · 12h ago
shiiiiidd, ain't nothin'. Wait until they feel what 110 is like, or 30 days straight of 100+.
badc0ffee · 12h ago
The temperature right now in Tampa is 90F with a dew point of 77F, which is extremely muggy.
Compare to Vegas right now, at 108F but you can actually cool off. The dew point there is 17F.
Having been to the Blackhat conference which is held in Vegas in August, I know which one I'd pick. Stay in the shade and Vegas is no big deal.
paxys · 11h ago
Heck you barely need to step outside in Vegas. I've been there multiple times and the temperature could have been 60 or 120 and I doubt anyone around me would have known the difference.
garciasn · 11h ago
I've been to Vegas at all different times of the year. Folks there definitely notice when it's not 120; they were wearing jackets, hat, and gloves when it was in the 50s at Christmas in 2005.
I was there for Google Next in April and it was hovering between 95 and 100 and I was comfortable in jeans and a polo, but I would have been just as comfortable at 60.
Living in the Upper Midwest, I find it so interesting that we deal with -40F to >105F (sometimes with 80 degree temperature swings in a day or two; going from -40 to +40) just fine but folks in places like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Tampa, FL cannot seem to handle even 10 degree swings. Crazy.
jrs235 · 10h ago
I assume you mean 80 degree real feel swing. And yes, how folks react to temperature is relative. First 45 degree day in Minneapolis in Fall and folks are wearing coats and jackets. First 45 degree day in Spring and people are wearing shorts, flip flops, shortsleeves, and some go shirtless.
Johnbot · 12h ago
I've seen months straight of 100F+, and I was in LA for their heat wave last July (120F). I happen to be near Tampa right now and I'd really much prefer a hotter dry heat, where shade actually does something and fans have any chance at cooling you off.
casion · 12h ago
The heat index on my weather station (in tampa) hit 141f yesterday. I'm in Arizona right now and it feels positively delightful.
WorldPeas · 11h ago
Family used to live in an area over there until they built a massive cruiseport, the smog from which trapped in so much more heat. I wonder if this is partly to blame. Ask me about my grudge against Jimmy Buffett
I dug up this map (which isn't very good, maybe someone has a better one) where it shows the highest temps in various places. Florida is behind states like Oregon and Washington.
https://eldoradoweather.com/climate/US%20Climate%20Maps/Lowe...
The humidity really does make a big difference though. Here east of the Cascades in Oregon it's quite dry, so even on a hot day, a bit of shade, breeze and a cool drink makes for pleasant conditions.
South Florida is basically all coral and sand at a few dozen feet above sea level except for the small ridge on the east coast (peaking at a whopping 86 feet) which provides the bedrock for Miami.
Central florida gets up to ~300 feet, downright alpine compared to south Florida.
Then you have the panhandle, which has the highest point in Florida, which isn’t surprising because it’s actually on the main continental block of North America
I also appreciate that they have see surface temperature anomaly, which can hugely impact temperature. Watching the ocean get to 100 degrees around Manatee Bay in 2023 was wild. https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/earth-systems/blog/hot-tub... https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_daily/?dm_id=world2
It looks like Tampa's not really that much better than usual? But on the north rim of the Gulf of a Mexico, there's some decent sized temperature anomolies.
That's the new political position all around the world.
There are parts of the country which are not insurable because of hurricanes, fires, floods and tornadoes [4]. This is an indicator that anything built will not be around for a long time.
So they will sacrifice-they just know it yet.
[0] https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Florida/Public...
[1] https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Florida/Public...
[3] https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/animal-products/cattle-beef/...
[4] https://bankingjournal.aba.com/2025/02/feds-powell-says-some...
Once the motor cooled enough to be handled, son #3 disassembled it, smoothed out the shaft and applied some super sticky grease. Motor spins freely but only starts sometimes. I've got a construction fan on top, blowing up for now.
I was uncertain whether the cap's tolerance difference mattered. Existing is half rubbed off and shows something like ?0/-5% and replacement is ±16/±16%. But #3 knows caps and says we're good.
Be aware with the fan on top, sucking air gives much less cooling capacity than blowing air (the intake flow is mostly laminar).
I had an oil burner motor that would occasionally fail to start up. Subtle rough spot on one of the bearings, so if it stopped in that exact place it didn't have the torque to start spinning.
As of today the fan isn't starting and the external fan draw isn't spinning the blades any more. Bushings are at least part of that.
We've got a replacement cap to try anyway but the motor won't be in until Thur.
> Be aware with the fan on top, sucking air gives much less cooling capacity than blowing air
Gotta work with what we got. It's enough to stave off thermal locking.
The house has 2 units and we're setting that stat higher and supplementing with fans.
Compare to Vegas right now, at 108F but you can actually cool off. The dew point there is 17F.
Having been to the Blackhat conference which is held in Vegas in August, I know which one I'd pick. Stay in the shade and Vegas is no big deal.
I was there for Google Next in April and it was hovering between 95 and 100 and I was comfortable in jeans and a polo, but I would have been just as comfortable at 60.
Living in the Upper Midwest, I find it so interesting that we deal with -40F to >105F (sometimes with 80 degree temperature swings in a day or two; going from -40 to +40) just fine but folks in places like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Tampa, FL cannot seem to handle even 10 degree swings. Crazy.