Summertime in Central Florida

It’s mid-July and this is our first summer living in our new home in Central Florida. Prior to moving here, we did our best to research what it might be like living here, including some in-person experiences. Now Marzz did relocate here last spring, so technically this is her second summer, but our first together in our house. While researching, we of course heard all about the humidity, and the storms, and the crowds, and the bugs.

Now all of those things are true and we do experience them and like most things, they can affect us, but not nearly enough to bother us. Let me explain a bit further, and I’ll break it down by subject.

First and foremost, the humidity. It absolutely exists and can be brutal. But this does not mean you won’t acclimate to it and it does not mean it’s always super humid. During the off-season months, Nov-March or April, the humidity levels can be equal to parts of California where we relocated from. In fact, during last spring, there were several days where the humidity levels were higher in parts of California that they were here in Central Florida. Recently my brother and his family came to visit and there first full day here they chose to come to Universal Orlando parks. The weather was mid-90’s and high humidity. I met up with them and noticed that they were all fighting the heat and humidity but I was not. Now you may read that and assume it is just because we handle it differently or maybe I am just quiet about it. Far from it. Back in California for example, I would constantly complain about the heat or about being too warm whether that was indoors, during the winter, or any other time. So my point here is that, it became apparent to me that I had acclimated pretty well and pretty quickly. For someone who gets hot regularly, and don’t get me wrong, I was hot, but I was handling the humidity for example, much better than they were. In fact, at this point, a hot summer day here is about the same as a hot summer day back in Southern California for me.

Next come the storms. Right now, we’re consistently getting the afternoon summer showers. It will start to rain any where from about noon to 5PM and once it starts, it can last any where from 20 minutes up to several hours. Sometimes the rain is very heavy and if you’re driving for example, you may have to pull over and stop because you cannot see out your windshield. Other times, it’s just enough water to increase the humidity and get everything wet. I imagine most people don’t really care about these afternoon showers. When they think of storms in Florida, the first thing that comes to mind is a huge hurricane. Perhaps it conjures up memories of a specific storm, and maybe you even remember its name? Of course those large and often destructive storms do happen and you must be aware of that. For me, it’s all about preparedness and knowledge. If you understand what actions you need to take before, during, and after a large storm, I believe you can be just fine. As a broad and generalized statement, many people who get injured or killed during a large storm, do so because they did not evacuate when told to do so; or they did not have adequate supplies or shelter. I’m sure there are a few other factors as well, but those are the main ones. It’s no secret to people here that these storms can be disruptive. Ranging from knocking out power and internet, washing out roads, tearing roofs off houses, but again, people can do a lot to prepare for that and be just fine. First and foremost, you need to have some basic food and survival supplies inside your home that are easily accessible. They can’t be stored away in an attic or the garage, because you may not be able to get them at that point. You should have water, and lots of it. Next you should have a good amount of non-perishable food and a way to heat up water and food that does not require any power. Most people have a small camping stove and canisters of propane. You’ll need some basic pots and pans and perhaps some utensils. Beyond that, a flashlight, some batteries and battery packs for cell phone charging and any other pertinent devices. Know that there may be cell disruption, so texting is the best method to communicate. Stay in place unless otherwise told to move by authorities. Wondering outside can be dangerous. Flying debris from strong winds can knock a person unconscious or disable them and leave them stranded somewhere. Taking care of yourself and your loved ones is priority. If anyone gets injured, you should have a first aid kit handy. Hopefully the injuries can be handled, or at least managed for a short time because you should not rely on emergency services, they will be overtaxed by other more serious calls. If you do encounter a serious situation that needs medical attention, call 9-11 and be patient, follow any and all instructions that you may get from them until they arrive on scene. The last thing I would say is don’t panic. Seriously, just stay calm. Yes, it will get loud, very windy, possibly thunder and lightning, but just stay in your home and you should be fine. We went through a category 4 hurricane last year and to be honest, I didn’t think too much of it. No remember, we’re very centralized from the coasts, so the storms tend to dissipate or slow down by the time they get here. Now this was still a category 4 when it got to us, but again, I didn’t think it was all that bad and I always felt safe in our home. Obviously, everyone’s experiences will be different, but my point is that I think you can prepare in a way to mitigate damage and risk. If you do that, there’s nothing to worry about. Just a note about home insurance because that is a “hot topic” right now. We had no trouble at all getting home insurance here in Florida. We have full coverage, and they even offered more things if we wanted them. We also added flood insurance because it was so cheap, even thought we live in flood zone X. Flood zones are rated with letters of the alphabet, with “A” being the worst, and “Z” basically being non-existent. So why did we get it if we’re in zone “X”, which is basically very rare to get flooding. Again, it was super cheap, I think something like an additional $10.00 per year. Statistically, even in flood zone “X”, as high as 20% of homes can still sustain some damage, so we figured there isn’t any harm in adding it, only an upside.

So how are the crowds during the summer? We are one of the most visited places in the United States thanks to large tourist destinations like Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, Sea World, and others being located here. There are many factors at play, one being that we are still feeling some after affects from Covid. Because many stats foolishly locked their people up and restricted travel etc., they didn’t see good numbers over the last two years, but Florida did open, so our last two years were exceptionally high. So, because of that, this year feels more like a “normal” year. Having said that, our “normal” year will actually see a bit of a dip because, similar to how some states closed up, some countries internationally did too, and they are just now beginning to open up, so international travel is playing a role in why our numbers may actually be lower this year. But a lower 2023, still doesn’t mean it’s below 2019 (pre-Covid) so overall, this place is still running strong. Now let me answer the question, how is it here this summer? Not bad. As far as driving around, if you’re traveling by car and using the freeways, you will certainly notice traffic near the theme parks. For those that don’t know, along the interstate I-4 freeway, Universal Orlando is most north in this case, just south of them is Icon Park, the Orlando Convention Center, followed by Sea World, Discovery Cove and Acquatica. Then just another couple miles south is Disney which is 44 square miles of land, housing Disney Springs shopping and dining areas, their 4 theme parks, two water parks, and plethora of hotels. So this entire stretch of road, approximately 7-8 miles, can get very congested, especially during the morning and late afternoons because you have plenty of tourists, plus locals going to and from work. Having said that, I personally don’t think it’s that bad and they are striving to make improvements to the freeway in this area, so in a couple of years, perhaps we’ll see some reprieve. What about restaurants or shopping areas, or other places you may need to go? I would say there are more people at places in the area I just described, but outside that bubble, it’s pretty normal. The Publix grocery store near our house is no busier that it was 6 months ago. Roads through out city, Davenport, feel about the same. I will note, because Marzz and I are coming from the Los Angeles area, where traffic is horrendous and they don’t really do anything to make it better, we may have a slanted view of the traffic here. There is definitely traffic, it can affect your commute or just getting around, but use your GPS, plan ahead a little, and you’ll be fine. I don’t think it’s bad at all.

Lastly, what about all those bugs, aren’t they worse during the summer months? So far, not really. We have seen an increase in mosquitos around our house, but we put out a few of those bug repellent scent devices and we’re fine. There is standing water behind our house that I’m sure plays a role in increased bugs, but we also get a lot of birds and lizards, both of which eat bugs. I’m certain there are places that you may not want to go due to increased bugs, but so far we have not experienced that. And if you’re at Universal or Disney, they treat their properties regularly so you won’t notice the bugs there.

We’ve had friends and family visit during these summer months, so we’ve been to both coasts, down south, to the theme parks, and other tourist destinations in between, and there are increased crowds, but as I mentioned earlier, just a little planning, you can mitigate that easily and avoid long waits or “sold out” places.

Summertime in Central Florida is great. The sun is out most of the time, and many of those afternoon showers are very short lived, so you get most of the day to enjoy yourself. Unrelated to summer, with the beaches only about 90 minutes or less away, hiking trails and lakes very close, theme parks, and other entertainment venues within 30 minutes away, there is no short supply of things to do here and I highly recommend that people come and visit. Come see what the great state of Florida has to offer, and who knows, maybe you’ll fall in love with it like we did and move here.

Thanks for reading, hoping to have our videos up soon on our YouTube and Rumble channels. Thanks for your patience with that, and thanks for tuning in. Until next time, take care!