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best microclimate in central florida


empireo22

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There are some 50ft+ here in Merritt Island.

Yes, I have seen ones 50+ on the Barrier Islands here in Brevard and Indian River, not only Merritt Island.

Malabar, Florida. Zone 10a, East Central Florida.

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Cocos do very well on the Mainland as well, just that more rare cold that can damage them, but the abnormal events of 2010 were just so long, normally they would had recovered after 28f or so if it had been a short freeze, there are some 40 foot ones on the mainland as well, particularly along the indian River Lagoon.

Malabar, Florida. Zone 10a, East Central Florida.

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yes there are some large ones here on the east coast..... I do believe Anna Maria Island though gets 1st place for Central Floridas microclimate......haven't figured out 2nd yet....maybe cocoa beach/south Patrick shores area?

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Jim,

I searched on www.weatherbase.com for anna maria island and found nothing. but I found st Petersburg and says the record low is 20 and 24 for cocoa beach. I would post a link put im not able to paste. I bet Anna Maria Island is something like 27. what you think?

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I found a search result , in which the header said that Holmes Beach had a record low

of 20 in 1983 . Even though the header is there in the search results , the link itself is dead. 404 .

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I found a search result , in which the header said that Holmes Beach had a record low

of 20 in 1983 . Even though the header is there in the search results , the link itself is dead. 404 .

That's not the case. The problem is that AMI has no weather stations older than a year or two. The official records for all of Manatee county either come from the NWS station in east bradenton or the Sarasota international airport. Both areas are in much colder locations than AMI, so I think emperio22's estimate of 27 is probably pretty close to accurate. It didn't even freeze in 2010, though the long term cool weather did take it's toll.

Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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I'm surprised that St. Petersburg got down to 20F, I was expecting more like 22F.

empireo22,

I thought Cocoa Beach saw 23F in '89

Brevard County, Fl

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I found a search result , in which the header said that Holmes Beach had a record low

of 20 in 1983 . Even though the header is there in the search results , the link itself is dead. 404 .

That's not the case. The problem is that AMI has no weather stations older than a year or two. The official records for all of Manatee county either come from the NWS station in east bradenton or the Sarasota international airport. Both areas are in much colder locations than AMI, so I think emperio22's estimate of 27 is probably pretty close to accurate. It didn't even freeze in 2010, though the long term cool weather did take it's toll.

I would imagine that it got colder than 27F there. My estimate would be something like ~24F for an all time record.

Brevard County, Fl

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I found a search result , in which the header said that Holmes Beach had a record low

of 20 in 1983 . Even though the header is there in the search results , the link itself is dead. 404 .

That's not the case. The problem is that AMI has no weather stations older than a year or two. The official records for all of Manatee county either come from the NWS station in east bradenton or the Sarasota international airport. Both areas are in much colder locations than AMI, so I think emperio22's estimate of 27 is probably pretty close to accurate. It didn't even freeze in 2010, though the long term cool weather did take it's toll.

I would imagine that it got colder than 27F there. My estimate would be something like ~24F for an all time record.

Maybe. I can say It's definitely not 20, but any more than that is just speculation. Palm beach further south and closer to the jet stream has a record low of 26, so your estimate doesn't sound too bad.

Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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the pre 89 coconuts on Anna Maria Island make me think no less than 26.....being surrounded by water it doesn't surprise me if the low temperatures are as warm or warmer than palm beach.....im sure the 26 low was at the West Palm Beach airport and not beachside.

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the pre 89 coconuts on Anna Maria Island make me think no less than 26.....being surrounded by water it doesn't surprise me if the low temperatures are as warm or warmer than palm beach.....im sure the 26 low was at the West Palm Beach airport and not beachside.

Here's where I found the number of 26 F.

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/22167-palm-beach-florida-palms-1905/?hl=1905

Wikipedia shows that the lowest temperature in Palm Beach is 27 F though so it's somewhere around there. I think it's safe to say that somewhere between 24 and 27 is probably as cold as it's gotten in recent history on AMI. Those temps will kill a lot of coconuts, but the Jamaican talls can take about that low as long as it's a one time thing and they have time to recover before more cold. The Sarasota airport got down to 27 F in 2010 and Jamaican talls in that area lived (all the Malayans died though).

Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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Did West Palm Beach saw 24F in 1899?

The data I've been able to find shows the 24 F happening in 1894.

Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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Also, keep in mind that duration of cold matters a lot with coconuts; a short amount of time below 30F with a low of 24F may not be as lethal as a long duration of under 30F with a low of 27F.

Brevard County, Fl

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Did West Palm Beach saw 24F in 1899?

The data I've been able to find shows the 24 F happening in 1894.

Okay yeah, that's it. I was pulling that from memory.

Brevard County, Fl

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Also, keep in mind that duration of cold matters a lot with coconuts; a short amount of time below 30F with a low of 24F may not be as lethal as a long duration of under 30F with a low of 27F.

Very true, which is why coconuts got badly damaged on AMI in 2010 even though the absolute low was still above freezing.

Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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Here on MI back in 2010, it was not the 29F low that killed them, it was the week or so spent in the mid to upper 30's and not breaking above 50F that killed about 50% of them.

Edited by Jimbean

Brevard County, Fl

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Thanks for that information Keith. the good thing about Anna Maria Island is that it has water in all directions north to help warm cold air during fronts. west palm beach has only land.

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Cocoa Beach south to Sebastian Inlet has a great microclimate. That includes South Patrick Shores, Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Indialantic, Melbourne Beach and south to the inlet. I've seen an amazing range of palms grown on Merritt Island too. Specifically 528 south to the Pineda Causeway. The microclimate is a hidden gem.

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Here's a nice coconut on a beach dune on Anna Maria Island. It's hard to get the scale of it because the bottom of the palm is covered by sea grapes, but it's pretty tall.

post-3598-0-09321100-1422388023_thumb.jp

post-3598-0-97422200-1422388044_thumb.jp

Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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Here's another one down the road. This one isn't as tall, but it was easier to get a good picture of.

post-3598-0-83392800-1422388357_thumb.jp

Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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Yes Merritt Island has a wonderful microclimate....especially pineda south to smathers bridge may even be zone 10b there. some of the biggest gumbo limbos ive seen around here are there.

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Merritt Island does for sure, but also the Barrier Island as a whole as well.

Malabar, Florida. Zone 10a, East Central Florida.

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From what I have seen, coastal Cocoa and Rockledge do as well, its often warmer in those locations than my own on the cold nights.

Malabar, Florida. Zone 10a, East Central Florida.

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Keith,

Is that a frozen coconut beside it in the last picture?

Yup. 2010 killed coconuts as far south as Miami, and Anna Maria Island was no exception. Survival rate was good on average though, and most of the ones that died were Malayans.

Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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The problem is that I am so bogged down between my school schedule, work schedule, and writing my book that I do not have time to really take to either draw a good detailed map of the area or take pictures from around my area.

I'll see what I can do.

Brevard County, Fl

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The absolute best microclimate in central FL is the Gaylord Palms atrium! : >

Eric

Orlando, FL

zone 9b/10a

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I have a Jamaican tall that grew 40 feet in 15 years.

Mind posting a picture? Tall types grow fast for sure, redant's coconut was only 9 years from seed in this thread and it's a giant!

http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/31164-not-all-coconuts-are-created-equal/

Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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Keith, didn't I post already about these? Someone was supposed to hit me up when they came down to get some. I am about to throw some away... no offense, but kinda a waste of time to show people an ordinary coconut, but seriously, I know cuz I planted it.

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Keith, didn't I post already about these? Someone was supposed to hit me up when they came down to get some. I am about to throw some away... no offense, but kinda a waste of time to show people an ordinary coconut, but seriously, I know cuz I planted it.

I keep trying to make a trip down south but I haven't had a chance yet...

Keith 

Palmetto, Florida (10a) and Tampa, Florida (9b/10a)

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In Cocoa Beach, the 1989 freeze killed native trees, especially gumbo limbo (Bursera simaruba).

For the most part, the barrier island from about Satellite Beach southward is more protected than the mainland at Vero Beach.

Fla. climate center: 100-119 days>85 F
USDA 1990 hardiness zone 9B
Current USDA hardiness zone 10a
4 km inland from Indian River; 27º N (equivalent to Brisbane)

Central Orlando's urban heat island may be warmer than us

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The 1989 low from what I am told is 22F here in Merritt Island, I am assuming that it was warmer than that in Cocoa Beach, maybe something like 23F at least.

Brevard County, Fl

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Would have thought in the early years Orlando could have hit 16-17F officially in one of the historic freezes, since Vero and Fort Pierce have been to 19F and Merritt Island 22F.

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