South Florida in Early August

[sem426]

Dh and I are thinking about going to South Fla (possibly Miami or Marco Island) for a long weekend get away without DD probably from 8/2-8/6.

I've been to Fla tons of times, but never in August. I know it will be hot and humid. My question is about storms/hurricanes. I know the season is technically from June-November, but I can't remember hearing of hurricanes in EARLY August very often. Usually, I feel like it's towards the end of the month, or in Sept/early Oct.

Am I fooling myself into thinking this? I have family in South Fla and they seem to think we should be ok, but I'd like some more opinions! I'm fine if it's just the occassional thunder storm in the afternoon (which I know happens alot in Fla), but I'd hate to go there and be in the middle of a huge storm. I know it's a chance, but how strong of a chance do you guys think??

[ManteoChik]

Odds are that you'll be fine - as long as you can handle the heat.

I've lived my entire life in the hurricane capitol (coast of NC) and been through more hurricanes than I care to count. I also lived in FL when they got their hurricanes for the first time in years. I highly doubt that you'll have a problem.

[Chris~n~Jen]

I live in SW Florida (near Marco Island actually) so I can try and help. It does seem like more hurricanes actually hit land here the end of August-October. But you really never can tell. It's always a gamble. Heck I planned my wedding for the last weekend in October thinking it would be safe and then Hurricane Wilma came through.

I just checked out this site. National Hurricane Center (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.shtml) You can click on each season and if you enlarge that seasons map it shows you the dates of each hurricane.

Hope that helps.

[HeatherFL]

Eh, it's hit or miss. Andrew was in August, but that was toward the end of August and it was years ago. If you're willing to cancel the vacation due to the risk and you are willing to do deal with our rainy season, heat and humidity I'd say come on down! There are a couple of threads about South Florida around here too if you need other tips. :)

~H.

[Sasha]

Like everyone has said, it's a possibilty. Typically the active season is end of August through early October, but this is coming from someone who went by that thought and planned a beginning of Nov. wedding, only to have Hurricane Michelle somewhere off the coast that weekend. The media is reporting this will supposedly be a very active season, but we take it with a grain of salt....they said that last year too and we had basically nothing. Unfortunately, they just can't predict exactly when/if one will hit.

Now that heat that time of year, that's what kills me....;)

[sem426]

Thanks for all of the feedback. It looks like we may be going now around July 4th...so still hot, but much less chance of a big storm.

We are most likely staying on Marco Island.

Chris~Jen If you have any restaurant suggestions on Marco, please let me know!

[HeatherFL]

I'd go into Naples. :) Not too much to do on Marco Island.