First things first... the weather

Whenever I don´t say otherwise, I will be referring to southern Florida (Miami - Fort Lauderdale area).

Most of the year we have gorgeous weather. In my own opinion, march and april are the best months, because it isn´t extremely hot yet (around the 70s) and the snowbirds are gone! Sorry but the older people coming in winter make for more cars on the road, in the stores, restaurants, etc. It may be great for economy but when your regular drive to the supermarket that takes you 10 minutes in summer turns into over half an hour in winter, it´s kind of a bummer, right?

January and february tend to be cold (sometimes lower 50s, generally in the 60s), agust and september extremely hot (the 90s).

OK, there´s a "little" problem... so yes, we do have hurricanes. 2009 was a realtively quiet year but there´s never a guarantee there won´t be a hurricane this year.

Oficially, hurricane season is from june 1st to october 31st. However I personally in 7 years have not seen a bad hurricane before August 15th. Between this date and end of september usually there are 3 to 4 hurricanes, so if you can, avoid these dates to come visit. That said, it is of course the season where the hotels are the cheapest, so if money is any concern, by all means, do come indeed!

And now the "gory" stuff. As you´ve probably learned in school, a hurricane is a bad thing... it starts with a total calmness the day before, and the most glorious sunset you´ve ever experienced. That is because the hurricane is absorbing all the moisture from the air. Only the high clouds moving rapidly, like in a sci-fi flick, while there is not a single breeze down where you are, betray the imminent storm. And then... beware! Gales of wind...palmtrees bending... trees being uprooted... roofs being blown away... windows exploding... I´ve seen a car being thrown into the air, landing on the other side of the street, all twisted. A car! Some people enjoy being out in such a storm but it is irresponsible and that is part of why you read there were such and such fatalities each time a hurricane hits us. Of course there are deaths that were not caused by irresponsability. But some others, unfortunately, were. A hurrcane is not the time to go surfing in the ocean or taking a walk down Las Olas Blvd!

If you ever are caught in a hurricane, make sure you have enough water supply to carry you on for a week. Water may be cut off, as well as electricity. Have some canned food and a manual can opener. Please stay away from windows (if they brek they could hurt you). If you hear a noise like a train engine coming towards you it´s probably a tornado. So get into a room with no windows (a bathroom f.i.) and stay low, like inside a tub. I´m telling you this from experience.

So I´m just telling you this to warn you. I sincerely hope you will never be caught in a hurricane and that you will enjoy many sunny visits to our lovely Florida!