This browser does not support the Video element.
Residents say Florida's cold hits differently
We're all bracing for colder weather this week, and other people in northern states might laugh. But, the majority of people in Florida agree that cold hits differently here. FOX 13's Danielle Zulkosky reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - Living in Florida, you might have heard the phrase "Florida cold is different" and many people here in Tampa agree.
But, that does not stop some from dressing in flip-flops year round.
What they're saying:
"A coat below 60, for sure, anything below 60," said Ben Gordon, a resident of Davis Island. "You can get by with flip-flops in a coat still, but definitely need the coat."
How you should dress during a Florida cold snap depends on who you ask.
"I've been here for about four years, but I'm from North Carolina, so with it, like I said, hitting the 50s here. I'm like, alright, I am wearing a sweatshirt," said Christian Thomas, a Tampa Bay resident. "Versus North Carolina — once it gets like 40s or whatever. I was like, ‘oh yeah, this is too cold.'"
READ MORE: Injured construction worker pulled from trench that collapsed in Safety Harbor
Some say it depends on how long you've lived here.
"My blood has thinned, I've lived here long enough," Gordon said.
Oliver Baumohl is from the UK. He said that Florida's cold has its benefits.
"Here it's humid and in other places it's like dry, so your lips get all crusted," Baumohl said.
He said he takes on the cold head first and defies his mom whenever she wants him to toss some extra layers on.
"My mum makes me sometimes, and it's really annoying, so I just throw it off right when I get to school," Baumohl said.
READ MORE: January is ‘Move Over Month’: Here's what the law means for you
The other side:
Some say this cold has nothing on where they come from.
Terri Beegle is a snowbird from Pennsylvania.
"Back home, it's going to be 11 degrees, so this is beautiful weather," Beegle said.
Beegle said she would take what she has deemed as "shorts weather" in Florida, over a Pennsylvania winter any day.
"As long as my core is warm, I'll throw a sweatshirt on. I'm golden," Beegle said. "I mean, if I could, I'd just jump in and go for a swim right now, but I think the water would be a little cold."
READ MORE: Winter Haven woman celebrating 111th birthday honored with special celebration
Still others said this weather is not for them.
"When it's like 40 degrees," said Gregory Rodriguez, from Riverview. "That's when I start putting on a coat."
"And it barely gets 40 degrees, though. Barely," Thomas said. "Yeah, with this cold front now. But I don't know. I feel like, for me, I put a coat on when it's, like, getting, like 50s."
The Source: Information in this story comes from interviews done by FOX 13's Danielle Zulkosky.