Watching The Skies: The Impact Of Weather In Key West

Online, January 29, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Jimmy Buffett may have once written a song about trying to reason with hurricane season, but the fact is he, like so many others, would never have made this tropical island paradise his home if the weather was often dangerous. With a temperature range of only a couple dozen degrees, Key West, Florida rivals nearly anywhere in the world as one of the most pleasant and temperate places to live year round. Unfortunately, great tropical weather doesn't make for great news, so many of the weather media outlets and 24 hour news reports tend to overly dramatize any potential weather issue, causing many people to mistakenly think that the island is constantly under a hurricane threat.

"While I understand that it is better to be safe than sorry, it is sad, really, how weather media can present possible weather issues as far worse than they are," Rooftop Cafe owner Norman Vogel recently said while speaking at a monthly luncheon of business owners. "Key West restaurants certainly rely on the year round tourist trade to stay in business, but when one is hearing news that another big storm may possibly be headed our way, it can scare people away."

The facts remain that Key West, Florida has not been directly hit by a hurricane in over ninety years, and in nearly a century, the number of storms that has caused any amount of significant damage can be counted on two hands, with a couple of fingers left over. While hurricane season is considered to be a six month period, June first through November thirtieth, the majority of all storm activity has traditionally been during a six week period in August and July. The remainder of the year in Key West, the average temperature is in the mid-eighties, the average annual rainfall is less than forty inches, and the tropical breezes are always blowing, making it a true island paradise.