East Coast Florida Climate Zones

[ahosey01]

Plant maps says it's 9b on Florida's east coast all the way down to Stuart.  Is that for real?  It gets below 30F there as a yearly average extreme minimum?

[kinzyjr]

Here are a few links that may help:

• 2023 USDA Zone Map for Florida: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/81918-2023-usda-zone-map-for-florida
• My Own Google Maps Zone Map: https://tinyurl.com/2024zoneMap
• Florida Freeze and Weather Station Data: https://www.palmtalk.org/forum/topic/66320-florida-freeze-and-weather-station-data/

[Jimbean]

On 11/6/2024 at 5:58 PM, ahosey01 said:

Plant maps says it's 9b on Florida's east coast all the way down to Stuart.  Is that for real?  It gets below 30F there as a yearly average extreme minimum?

No, not at all accurate.  I believe the 1990 map is missing data for areas closer to the coast and makes a lot of round about estimations.  The most accurate official map created by the USDA is the 2012 map.  Also, I strongly urge you to disregard the 2023 USDA map, it's garbage. 

I've lived on the east coast of Florida my whole life and have made countless observations, from the Brevard county/Volusia county line, west to Orlando, and south to West Palm Beach.  I define zones as what will grow reliably in a location long term.  Here's my informed opinion;  

Zone 9B starts around Ormond Beach, hugs the coast of Volusia county and then parallels the St. John's river, and then cuts down and comes across just north of Lake Okeechobee.  The higher elevations, and more urbanized areas from Sandford down to Conway/Orlando International Airport has some solid 9B microclimates. 

Zone 10A starts around Cape Canaveral and hugs coastal Brevard and Indian River counties, only gradually going inland as one goes south, until about Fort Peirce, then cuts through Port St. Lucie, roughly were I-95 and the Florida Turnpike is, and then the 9B/10A threshold dips into the Loxahatchee swamp.

Zone 10B, in my opinion, starts in coastal Palm Beach county, from Jupiter Inlet southward and includes much of urbanized south Florida. 

[_nevi]

In South Florida, for some reason, the east coast looks wetter compared to the west coast. I'm basing this on Köppen's climate classification, which has tropical monsoon (am) and tropical rainforest (af) on east coast, whereas the west coast is entirely tropical savannah (aw).

[PalmatierMeg]

On 12/5/2024 at 12:55 PM, _nevi said:

In South Florida, for some reason, the east coast looks wetter compared to the west coast. I'm basing this on Köppen's climate classification, which has tropical monsoon (am) and tropical rainforest (af) on east coast, whereas the west coast is entirely tropical savannah (aw).

You are correct. FL West Coast is drier than the East Coast. Our rainy season starts later and ends sooner. Storms often blow past us on their way to dump rain inland and on SEFL

[SeanK]

On 11/7/2024 at 6:16 PM, Jimbean said:

No, not at all accurate.  I believe the 1990 map is missing data for areas closer to the coast and makes a lot of round about estimations.  The most accurate official map created by the USDA is the 2012 map.  Also, I strongly urge you to disregard the 2023 USDA map, it's garbage. 

I've lived on the east coast of Florida my whole life and have made countless observations, from the Brevard county/Volusia county line, west to Orlando, and south to West Palm Beach.  I define zones as what will grow reliably in a location long term.  Here's my informed opinion;  

Zone 9B starts around Ormond Beach, hugs the coast of Volusia county and then parallels the St. John's river, and then cuts down and comes across just north of Lake Okeechobee.  The higher elevations, and more urbanized areas from Sandford down to Conway/Orlando International Airport has some solid 9B microclimates. 

Zone 10A starts around Cape Canaveral and hugs coastal Brevard and Indian River counties, only gradually going inland as one goes south, until about Fort Peirce, then cuts through Port St. Lucie, roughly were I-95 and the Florida Turnpike is, and then the 9B/10A threshold dips into the Loxahatchee swamp.

Zone 10B, in my opinion, starts in coastal Palm Beach county, from Jupiter Inlet southward and includes much of urbanized south Florida. 

Even up my way, the 2012 map is a better bet that the 2023 map. The former aligns closely to the 1960 map.