Jax Winter 2010

How cold has it been in Jacksonville the last 3 months?

We know most of our family and friends live north of the Mason-Dixon Line and won't have much sympathy for us since their winter has been brutal with below average temperatures and record amounts of snow. We've been in Florida for 10 years now and this winter has been torturous. Most years we get a few nights when the temperature drops to 32F or so. This year, it's been 2+ months of lows between 16F and 32F.

Partial exerts from two articles in Jacksonville's newspaper this week:

This winter is coldest in Jacksonville since 1977-78

By Jessie-Lynne Kerr
Story updated at 9:35 AM on Wednesday, Mar. 3, 2010

Think it’s been cold the last three months?

You can bet your chilly bippy it was.

According to an analysis prepared by meteorologist Jason Hess at the National Weather Service office at Jacksonville International Airport , it was the coldest winter in the area since 1977-78 and the fourth-coldest Jacksonville winter on record.

The average temperature in Jacksonville for the past three months — December through February — was 51.1 degrees, Hess said, a good 3.5 degrees colder than the long-term average. But it wasn’t as cold as the most frigid winter on record. That was an average temperature of 48.9 degrees in the winter of 1976-77, followed by the 49.9 in 1977-78 and 50.2 in 1957-58.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Jacksonville Zoo’s new penguin exhibit makes its debut Friday.

By Heather Lovejoy
Story updated at 7:42 AM on Thursday, Mar. 4, 2010

The new penguins at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens stayed mostly in the water on Wednesday morning — where it was warmer. Their pool was heated and it was a bit chilly outside for their liking. That’s right, too chilly for penguins.

We visited the Jacksonville Zoo for the grand openings of "The Range of the Jaguar" and the "Komodo Dragon" exhibit. To keep the tradition going, we headed to the zoo after school for the "Tuxedo Coast" penguin exhibit's grand opening. To say Kellisa loved the penguins would be an understatement. She loved the way the penguins swam fast and bounced in and out of the water. Her favorite part was the area where you can crawl under the water and watch the penguins swim all around. A few pictures:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was most unusual, you kept hearing public announcements warning people not to go out on the ice. Native Floridians have no clue about the cold and it seems that people, mostly kids would venture out on the local ice, not realizing it wasn't thick enough to support the weight.

For those who have never visited our house, there is a small lake in the back corner of our yard. This is our 8th winter in this house and for the first time, the water has frozen over. Below are two pictures of our frozen lake: