Winter Kiting

[mcdunc]

It's been asked a lot of times.... but, is there wind in Florida in the winter? My friends in Manitoba tell me to go to Texas, or to Hawaii. They say there's no wind there.
But Florida seems to be a really interesting state with lots to do. So, I am planning on a winter in your great state, and wonder what region is the best for winter winds and 60F+ temperatures. There is so much info on this site, but I can't find a comprehensive summary of average wind conditions and temperature by month. Where do I go?? Please and Thank You!
Dunc

[BigR]

FL is one big immense coastline , so I can't really recc. any one place over any other as all of FL goes windy basically from November thru April and water temps never goes below 60F unless you are in northern FL. In dead winter, shorties is all you need in South FL to 4/3 fullsuits in mid or north FL.
Be prepared to do some driving to the opposite coast if need be. Sometimes the cold fronts blow from the east and sometimes from the west depending on the weather patterns

[mcdunc]

Thanks,
What do you mean by windy? It sounds like most of the wind is front generated, one to two fronts per week?? Does this mean two days of no wind, three days of 10-15 knots, two days of 15-25 knots, in a week?
Dunc

[BigR]

What do you mean by windy? It sounds like most of the wind is front generated, one to two fronts per week?? Does this mean two days of no wind, three days of 10-15 knots, two days of 15-25 knots, in a week?

yep, pretty much exactly that. but it may be quite a bit more wind on occasion to 30+ and or maybe only 1 front a week . If you want to maximize
the wind time tho you have to drive a little , to find the best wind direction.
Average I'd say you get 3 days of really good days a week during winter maybe more if it is a good year

[ricki]

There is the Winter Guide to Kiting in Florida, it is a bit early so it hasn't gone back up to the top yet, http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=903

BigR has covered it pretty well. No wind may describe things for periods of summer but is far from accurate for the winter months. The winds do come and go with fronts with calm periods. I have yet to go there in winter but understand the trades can be up and down in the Hawaiian Islands in winter. Absent hurricanes to mess up the trades summer is a more consistent time as a rule. As far areas with interesting things to do off the water for a whole winter, it would seem South Florida and Hawaii would have some good prospects in that area. Southwest Texas on the Gulf can have some good winds but even those break up at times I understand. Shore side pursuits for several months might be more limited there too depending on your interests. I would take a hard look at either South Florida, maybe even move around a bit from Jupiter down to the Keys and up to Tampa depending on conditions or head to Hawaii. You could look at the wind archives on ikitesurf for more historical wind info. Wind isn't nearly at the same intensity among all the Hawaiian Islands either, more choices. Have a good winter wherever you land!

[mcdunc]

Thanks BigR and Rick,

I went to South Padre Island for two months three winters ago. The temperature was cool, and the wind was okay, but not great. Three good days a week, in Florida sounds pretty good. Driving for the best wind & direction is pretty common, here in Manitoba, so I could handle that. One side or the other of Lake Winnipeg (13th largest freshwater lake in the world) can be better depending on wind direction, and many of us drive from Winnipeg to the best spot for any particular day.

I have looked at the Winter Guide to Kiting in Florida. It's very useful, and I also like the descriptions of launches and contacts that you provide in the travel section. I have used some of the historical data at Windfinder.com but I haven't used iKitesurf.com much because of the fee.

I don't know about you but even though Hawaii is a gorgeous place, the small islands might leave me feeling a bit cramped after a month or so. Perhaps one day I'll go there and see.. The idea of moving around in South Florida appeals to me. I think Florida has more to offer in terms of things to do, especially since my wife is a non-kiter.

I was really surprised to find that the Gulf Coast is cooler and less windy than the Atlantic Coast. At least that's what the data I have seen seems to be saying. I would have thought it was the opposite. Anyway, Pompano Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, and area seem to have great temps and the good probability of winter wind. Are these areas really crowded in the winter? Can you find affordable rents, not too far from the beach?

Dunc

[troubleshooter]

I think 3 days per week is a bit on the high side. Sometimes, fronts wont come through for weeks. When they do, some may generate two days of good wind 15-20 knots. Others may generate 3 or 4 days. But once it washes thru, it calms down relatively quickly. The March/April fronts are more likely to generate winds above 20 knots. But not much more than 20 knots.

South Florida is a great place to kite if you live here and have patience. The fronts and winds dont always come thru when you want but the weather is great. You will need a full 3/2 during the winter cold fronts in south florida. The water temp is not that bad but the wind chill will bite ya.

Good luck.

[ricki]

Dunc, sounds like you take your winter vacation seriously. Keeping that in mind, why not get a subscription to ikitesurf if only for a while. Although, they have stuff on there that is essential for weather planning in my opinion, mainly upweather real time winds. That's another story. Anyway, look at the wind archives in ikitesurf. Just had a quick look for December 2008. First for Key West. About four days out of 31 were pretty light, say less than 12 kts.. The other days were often quite a bit more, high teens, 20's, etc. but were rideable as a rule for at least part of the day. The Keys have more wind more of the year than any other part of Florida. Looking at Jupiter, that increased to around ten days out of 31 give or take using the same criteria, again part of the day. You will have fewer useable days in November as a rule and more in March.

As with the stock market, past performance doesn't necessarily accurately predict future performance. Although in the case of wind, it is usually a better indicator. Some years are better than others. What sort of winter will this be? Too soon to say, hope it is a good one though. Many thousands of kiters have vacationed in various parts of Florida for about ten years. Some had a good winds, some didn't, some only lucked out for part of the time. Planning, selection of supportive timing and location can have a lot to do with the outcome, oh and some luck too at times.

[mcdunc]

Thanks TShooter and Rick,

I am looking at some of the stats on IKitesurf. I see the daily graphs for the months of the year that I selected. Great, but are there more general summaries for the months of Nov-April, which give a record of what has happened for the past four or five or even ten years in that month? Windfinder and Windguru have those type of functions (even though their data is only available for a few years/months), but I am not seeing it on iKitesurf?

I live in light wind country so I am familiar with what it's like trying to juggle your schedule to get a session in. From what I see on iKitesurf, it looks like 20 knots is closer to the norm for fronts, although 3 kiteable days a week doesn't seem to be an exaggeration, but it does depend on where you are... and where you are willing to drive to. And of course, what happened last year(s) is no guarantee for this year.

I know the Keys has the best wind. But, as I understand it, there are no beaches, it's expensive, it's isolated, requires a boat for some launches, and as far as sight seeing goes, it's more limited, sort of like Hatteras. So I don't consider it a long term stay option, although a two week stop there sounds fabulous.

This leaves me back at the question, where do I go on the mainland? Is driving between Jupiter and Ft. Lauderdale a good option, or driving between Melbourne and Jupiter a better option? or driving between Ft Lauderdale and the Keys the best?

Dunc

[admin]

I was going to generate some wind bar graphs vs. time vs. location for this site but the folks at ikitesurf said they were going to do it so I backed off. Big project in any case. I guess they're still working on it.

You can do day trips from one end of mainland SE Florida to the other fairly easily. Even riding further north is feasible but after a while you'll want to just stay there overnight or for a few days. Heading south into the Keys, at a certain distance you may just want to stay over night to hang out there in the evening and avoid the drive north. If you are coming down for months, I would suggest finding places to stay in several parts of south Florida for several weeks each. You like wave sailing, correct? When the strong winds are on you will have some nice ones particularly north of Pompano increasing in size northward particularly from Jupiter and up. If you prefer calmer or flatter water the Keys may be more agreeable from that standpoint. The west coast has a number of calm water venues for various wind directions too.