The state of Florida has long been known for its weather and most people generally think of Florida's weather as nice and warm and sunny. But the Sunshine State has some crazy weather facts that will likely boggle your mind. Here are five crazy but true weather facts about the state of Florida.
1. Florida is southernmost state in Continental USA but ranks 41st for record hottest temperature
Only 9 states in the entire United States have lower temperature records than Florida does and each one of the states is well over 1,000 miles north of Florida. The only exception to that is Hawaii.
Florida's record highest temperature is 109 degrees which occurred on June 29, 1931, in Monticello. Only Alaska (100 record high), Hawaii (100), Rhode Island (104), Vermont (105), Maine (105), New Hampshire (106), Connecticut (106), Massachusetts (107) and New York (108) have lower record temperatures.
Many northern states that border Canada like Washington (118 degrees), Montana (117), North Dakota (121), Minnesota (115), and Michigan (112) have hotter record temperatures than Florida does. North Dakota, which has a 310 mile border with Canada and is some 2,000 miles north of Florida, has a record hottest temperature that is 12 degrees hotter than Florida does.
2. The Sunshine State gets a lot of annual rainfall
Even though Florida is called the Sunshine State 12 of the top 20 cities in the country with the highest annual rainfall are located in Florida. That's 60%. Even worse, 39 of the top 50 cities in the country with the highest annual rainfall are located in the Sunshine State. That's 78%. That data is for cities with 50,000 or more people.
3. Miami is southernmost largest city in USA but every state in country has hotter record temperature
Every state in the Continental USA has a record hottest temperature that is hotter than the all-time record hottest temperature reading in Miami even though Miami is the largest southernmost city in the United States.
Miami's record hottest temperature is exactly 100 degrees. Even though Miami is thousands of miles south of the northernmost states in the United States places like Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and Washington, all have much higher record temperature records than Miami does.
Maine's record high is 105 degrees, while Minnesota's is 115, North Dakota's is 121, Montana's is 117 and Washington's is 118 degrees. So Miami's record high temperature is anywhere from 5 to 21 degrees cooler than the record high temperatures of all the northernmost states in the Continental United States.
Even more crazy, Miami's record high temperature of 100 degrees has been equaled in Alaska, as 100 degrees is also the record high for Alaska the northernmost state in the United States.
4. Florida leads the country in annual deaths from lightning
Florida is the lightning capital of the United States and unfortunately the Sunshine State also leads the nation in annual deaths from lightning. Out of the 100 or so people a year who die from lightning strikes in the United States about 10-13 of those deaths occur in Florida.
In Florida, 94% of the lightning deaths occur between late May and the end of September or mainly in the summer months. Except in unusual years, lightning is a far bigger threat to people than hurricanes or tornadoes in the United States.
5. Key West is southern most city in Continental US but many northern cities have much higher record hottest temperatures
The record high for temperature in Key West is 97 degrees. Even though it is the southernmost city in the Continental United States, places like Seattle which is the northernmost city with over 500,000 people have higher record temperatures. Seattle's record high is 103 degrees.
Many other northern cities in the United States have much higher hottest temperature records than Key West. New York City, which is 1,440 miles north of Key West, has a record high temperature of 106 degrees. Boston's record is 104 degrees, Detroit's is 105, Chicago's is also 105 and Minneapolis is 108 degrees. All of those cities are 1,500 miles or more north of Key West but they all have had hotter temperatures than Key West by seven to 11 degrees.
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