I don’t really travel much so I’m not familiar with Florida weather. I’m from NJ up in the northeast and I know the weather couldn’t be more different. I’m not a huge fan of the heat but how hot/humid does it really get down there? What’s the average day like?
It can be very hot and humid from August through mid November. In the winter months it cools down a bit down to low 70s high 60s. There is the breeze from being near the ocean that cools the air down a bit still pretty humid though. Temps go down a lot at nighttime can get pretty chilly
It is like hell, but humid in Florida from mid-June until September. There can also be tropical rain that doesn’t rain cats and dogs but snakes and snapping turtles (you’ll see warning signs about not driving into standing water because there are snakes).
Most people get used to the heat and humidity (not me) or figure out a life that involves a lot of air conditioning. When it was the hottest , I went from my air con home to my air con car to my air con office. I tried not to need to be out of the air con if possible. Pumping gas (and yes, in Florida you have to do that yourself) or parking in a shopping center? I didn’t do that during the day in the hottest months.
For much of the year, and that’s most of the school year, it is fine and often pleasant. There is a reason people vacation in Florida. It’s nice, the ocean water is warm, it’s great to not have to clear ice and snow off your car to go to the store.
Interesting, luckily if I end up going I won’t be in school during that time period haha
You probably would be in school in Aug/Sept every year. I don’t know UMiami’s start date, but may schools in Florida start pretty early. My daughter is always back in Florida by Aug 15, sweating and complaining.
Darn, alright
UMiami starts very early. Freshman move-in date was Aug. 15 for my son. It was close to 100 degrees the whole time I was there. I went back in late October and it was still 90-ish and humid. It did not cool down until January this year.
Everything is air-conditioned and the school is nicely landscaped with trees.
Walking from class to class is the pits. You take three showers a day in Florida. You towel off sweat when you get out of the shower. Getting into your car - hmm, the best comparison would be to turn on your oven to 400 degrees in NJ and put a big roasting pan filled with water on the oven floor. When the temperature is reached, open the oven door and crawl inside.
I loathed at least six months of the year in Florida. Honestly, three months are awesome - Jan - March. April is still OK, but by the end of April, the bad hair days are piling up. I have sweated through Christmas dinner so I’m not really a fan of December. And August/September are like living in a sponge in a microwave set to high.
Some people can handle this. I could not. There’s no way to know how you’d do unless you live through it.
^^My daughter’s dorm is like a motel with outside stairways and a landing with 4 suites. It was close to 10 billion degrees the day she moved into her room and those stairways are not air conditioned.
Her school does have lovely palm trees on the walkways, there are a lot of walkways.
I’m really not one for feeling sweaty…hope they do really have lots of air conditioning.
I have been at the UM campus in August, October, February and April and I found with the exception of the April visit (ironically Admitted Students’ Day) the weather was too hot to spend any time outdoors. The buildings all have A/C, but the kids do need to move around campus and then they all move off campus sophomore year anyway so they then need to deal with hot cars or a long walk. There is really no way to escape the oppressive South Florida weather and it does make the campus seem a bit dead at times as it is rare to see kids just hanging outside on campus.
That’s a bummer, I’ll have to seriously consider if it’s worth being miserable in the heat for most of the year.
Yeah, good point, @londondad - that’s the thing about Florida - you go down there with the perspective of a Northerner, who is used to seeing crowds and crowds of people outside on sunny days - parks, cafes, just walking the dog - and Florida seems so dead outside.
But once you’ve lived there a while, the last thing you want to do is go outside, because it’s just so freaking hot. And even when it’s not on fire, you forget to go outside, because, meh, it’ll be sunny tomorrow anyway.
Plus, fire ants. Nobody sits on the ground in Florida.
“Plus, fire ants. Nobody sits on the ground in Florida.” Good point!!!
It probably is as a Northerner bias (plus I have lived in London for 20+ years) that I really notice the lack of people on UM’s campus. What really stuck out for me this year is when we did admitted students’ visits with my daughter in April and visited Georgetown. We were aware that GU has a reputation for kids often hanging out in groups on the main lawn in front of Healy Hall and it was a nice day, but literally 80% of the grass area was covered with students which immediately made me think of Miami. I’m not criticising U Miami, which is a fine school, but the weather did get to me.
You do spend more time outside at night, sitting on the steps near the lake or walking around the Grove.
Is it nice out at night? Is that when students tend to be outside the most?
- But at night they are more likely to head off campus to Coconut Grove.
My friends and I lived on campus all 4 years without cars. We would occasionally go to the Grove and I loved the marina. On campus, we would sit outside after dinner and watch activities in the intramural field, visit friends, go see shows on campus. I found it to be very pleasant. I have family still in Miami and I won’t visit in the summer any more, even thought I also live in a hot climate. I’d rather be outside in the fall, etc.
So would you say a good 75% of the time you’re at school, the weather is at least tolerable?