[knicksin8]

How does the weather differ between these two areas?

[FlyMIA]

Ft. Lauderdale is a tropical climate while Tampa is Subtropical. During the summer they will have similar weather. Hot and humid. Tampa is actually a bit warmer. Lauderdale will have more rain and thunderstorms. But there will be a pretty big difference in the winter. Tampa will be cooler than Lauderdale. Also Tampa will suffer colder days from cold fronts more often and the temps will be colder. Record low in Lauderdale is 28F while Tampa is 18F.

January: Average low Tampa 51F High 69 Lauderdale: Low 57F High 75F
June: Tampa High 90F Low 75 Lauderdale: High 88 Low 74

[OptimusPrime69]

lol, weather is pretty much the same all year round except dec, jan, and feb... its cooler in tampa than lauderdale and lauderdale is a bit warmer in winter. otherwise its all the same.

[knicksin8]

is tampa any less vulnerable to hurricanes since it is on the opposite coast of florida compared to ft lauderdale?

[FlyMIA]

Originally Posted by knicksin8

is tampa any less vulnerable to hurricanes since it is on the opposite coast of florida compared to ft lauderdale?

Yes and no. A big storm can hit anywhere and all it takes is one big storm in a 10-15 year period to make things bad. Ask any Floridian we would rather have two Cat 1 or 2s a year for 10 years than just one Cat 4 or 5 in a 10 year period.

I think historically Southeast Florida has seen more storms and stronger ones but Tampa still gets them here and there. But it would not surprise me if for example wind storm insurance in Tampa was cheaper.

[Sweetbottoms]

Ft launderdale- hot , humid.
Tampa - hot, humid

[Miserable Midwest]

Originally Posted by FlyMIA

Ft. Lauderdale is a tropical climate while Tampa is Subtropical. During the summer they will have similar weather. Hot and humid. Tampa is actually a bit warmer. Lauderdale will have more rain and thunderstorms. But there will be a pretty big difference in the winter. Tampa will be cooler than Lauderdale. Also Tampa will suffer colder days from cold fronts more often and the temps will be colder. Record low in Lauderdale is 28F while Tampa is 18F.

January: Average low Tampa 51F High 69 Lauderdale: Low 57F High 75F
June: Tampa High 90F Low 75 Lauderdale: High 88 Low 74

That's pretty much spot-on. The only thing I'd add is that Ft. Lauderdale seems to get a lot more cloud cover than Tampa.

[FloridaKash]

Regarding the question about the storms. Tampa is the Lightning Capital of North America (maybe the world, not sure). We have lightning and thunderstorms almost daily. Sometimes they get a bit intense but not very often.

Tampa is less likely to get a direct hit of hurricane since hurricanes typically form out in the Atlantic and move west.

[tonyff67]

I can only speak on Tampa, but it gets pretty damn cold here in the winter time. I used to live in Ft Myers. In Ft Myers we would get about 2 weeks of winter. In Tampa we get about 2 months of winter. I love Tampa, but the winters Suck! If you want nice winter weather stay south of Palm Beach on the east and south of Port Charlotte on the west.

[FlyMIA]

Originally Posted by FloridaKash

Regarding the question about the storms. Tampa is the Lightning Capital of North America (maybe the world, not sure). We have lightning and thunderstorms almost daily. Sometimes they get a bit intense but not very often.

Tampa is less likely to get a direct hit of hurricane since hurricanes typically form out in the Atlantic and move west.

It's more Florida being the lightning capital of the U.S. but is impossible to call any small geographical place the lightning capital of anything.

Rwanda has the most lighting for a country in the world.