Assuming the globe is warming, why would S Florida be > 100 degrees? It is surrounded by water. If anything, NORTH Florida would be more likely to roast, having a more continental climate. I lived in Tampa for most of the 80s and never saw 100 degrees that I can recall, but I spent college in Tallahassee, and summers often had 100+ days.

Because the oceans are warming, and I did say in 20 years, and only the tip of Florida. The last update to the USDA zone map took a lot of Florida up a zone, which is a 10 degree difference. That happened over 17 years. If it happens again in the next 17 years, it stands to reason that the southern tip of FL could get that hot. I'm just quoting experts. I'm not a climate expert at all. That being said, yes, the inland areas are usually much hotter due to no breeze, but it stands to reason that if the oceans continue to grow warmer, the sea breeze will not moderate the temperatures as much as they do now.

I lived in Bradenton for 3 years in the 90s and being so close to the gulf, the humidity was oppressive. Breezes aside, we had many days in the 90s with 90%+ humidity where people with respiratory problems were warned to stay inside under the a/c. The water in the Gulf would get so warm it wasn't even refreshing to get into it to cool off at the beach. It's not the air temperature that gets you, it's the heat index. Here in Gainesville, we often have heat indexes way over 100 degrees in the summer.

But like I said, I'm not an expert. Heck, I'm not even an expert gardener!

We had a freeze warning last night, but it only got down to 36 (according to Accuweather). It's 36 now, so I was right to bring in the tender tropicals. I covered everything too big to bring in, so I'm glad we didn't get a frost.

Did anyone in the panhandle get freezing temps? You're a half-zone colder up there.

if you follow the farmer's almanac it's pretty easy to
figure out what to do ... they've been keeping temperature records since 1945 -https://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather-history/ when i lived in tampa i knew it could freeze up until valentine's day and since moving to brooksville it’s mid-march. this is a normal winter from my fifty-four years of experience.

The farmer’s almanac has been around since 1792 and you can check temps back to 1945. Below are the temps for Brooksville for the last eighteen years. I don’t see a trend either way … warmer or colder … don’t really see any climate change. Florida weather is notorious for extreme changes in temps in the winter. I was born and raised here and it’s always been like this. I don’t see anything in the last eighteen years that broke heat records, but in 2010 & 2011 it was in the mid-nineties.

My grandfather and uncle taught me to use the almanac. They’ve been farmers in Tennessee for generations.

There are plenty of citrus crossed with grapefruit that handle greening really well. I think they’ll just steer the industry towards those varieties and/or develop new ones. None of my grapefruits have greening and neither does my minneola tangelo, which I think is a tangerine grapefruit cross. Ag industries in Florida change with the times.

1. March 8th
2. 2017 – 62
3. 2016 – 57.6
4. 2015 - 55.9
5. 2014 - 42.4
6. 2013 – 32
7. 2012 - 53.6
8. 2011 - 46.4
9. 2010 - 37.4
10. 2009 - 54
11. 2008 - 55.4
12. 2007 - 51.1
13. 2006 - 46.6
14. 2005 - 48.9
15. 2004 - 57
16. 2003 - 62.1
17. 2002 - 57.2
18. 2001 - 30
19. 2000 - 55.9
20. August 1st
21. 2017 – 86.2
22. 2016 – 89.2
23. 2015 – 81.1
24. 2014 – 86.9
25. 2013 – 89.6
26. 2012 – 87.8
27. 2011 - 95
28. 2010 – 96.9
29. 2009 – 87.1
30. 2008 – 83.3
31. 2007 – 84.6
32. 2006 – 90.1
33. 2005 – 91.9
34. 2004 - 91
35. 2003 – 89.6
36. 2002 – 89.1
37. 2001 - 88
38. 2000 - 91
39. ... or we could just blame it all on trump.

Looks like the March temps have been going up since 2013, but then, the NWS (where the almanac gets their info, I believe) said we would have a mild winter, and most of it was until January. I usually never plant anything until March 15 anyway, but this year, I got a little antsy after the freeze and just wanted to get out and garden.

Looks like winter is not yet done with us here in N. FL. There is a freeze warning for Wednesday night. I was going to take the plants that are indoors out tomorrow and water them all, because they really need water, as does the whole garden. I guess I'll just have to bring them back in again afterwards. I can put trays under some and water them inside, but I don't have trays large enough for the big ones.

Such is the life of a gardener. *sigh*

I told y'all march could surprise ya. When i lived in the panhandle one year we had a march snowfall...that was a surprise in a half. But march can always throw a cold snap at you when you least expect it.

Pea, I guess I was spoiled by the mild winters we've had since I moved here 4 years ago. I remember in SC, all the big box stores would have the annuals out by March 15th, and everyone would rush out to buy and plant them. Then we would ALWAYS have a hard freeze between then and April 15, and all of them would get frozen. All of us who had been gardening for most of our lives knew never to plant anything before April 15, so we'd just laugh and laugh at those stupid people. The bad part was, it was sometimes the same people year after year. They just never learned!

I've always wondered about people who plant their tomatoes out in January up here. Maybe they're in the same gene pool as those people in SC.