In Southwest Florida, the rains usually stop by October 1 and things dry out quickly. From November until about the middle of March, we might get cold spells lasting a week or so, when the daytime temperature might be in the low 50s or cooler for a couple of days. At night, we might even get frost a time or two. During the dry season, humidity is low and the weather most of the time is pleasantly in the 70s during the day.
There aren’t many places in the US that have better weather for the seven or eight months our dry season lasts. Might explain why it’s so crowded down here then.
Dry season is prime gardening time:
- In case you were wondering, the wet season is not good for most vegetable gardening. All that rain makes for mold, mildew, and fungus problems. The dry season is the time for active gardening.
- And, I had no sooner bragged about the weather on this web site than we actually had a heavy frost. Cold weather lasted a couple of weeks: highs were in the low 50s and lows in the 30s. This happens along the coast about every 10 or 15 years and results in warm weather plants and animals dying off.
The dry season is also fire season. The sub-tropical climate encourages a plethora of undergrowth, which dries out quickly when it stops raining. If you go camping or hiking during the dry season, do us all a favor and be careful with open flames.
- Don’t go crazy with the lighter fluid on your bonfire (which should only be lit in approved fire rings if you are allowed one at all),
- don’t flick your cigarette butts out the car window
- don’t drive your car over dry grass (the sparks from the undercarriage can light a grass fire, and trust me, you don’t want to be in the middle of it when it goes up in flame).
The fines are huge and the jail time long for people who are caught starting wildfires.
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