Why Deal With Winter? Move South Even IF Just For The Winter.... Carolina is Good... Snows and Then Melts Fast. South Florida Truly Paradise. Live Like It's Margaritaville ALL The Time!

Just why?

I don't get why people live there.

I've been to Boston (in the summer)

Even August can be cold!

But in the winter?

Granted my Great, Great Grandparents came from over there, up north where it was cold all the time even in the summer (by Florida standards) and dealt with winter for a good part of the year. But over time we evolved, migrated and some distant relative heard about a "beautiful place after a long sea voyage" and he docked in Key West and found it good and put down roots. He opened a tinware shop, dabbled in tobacco and invested in Real Estate. Several generations later my son sells Real Estate in places that truly look as if they came from a magazine touting the beauty of the Garden of Eden. I mean look at this picture below. You could be lying on that chase lounge feeling the rays of the sun (with sun screen of course) listening to the gulls circling high up above with a view worth every dollar you spend. Why do people live where winter can last more than the three calendar months? 

My great, great uncle sold real estate in Tampa.

Anna Maria Island and Holmes Beach.

Yes once every few decades there's a hurricane.

Once every winter there ARE Nor'easters

3 Nor'easters this March.

Another on the way...

Why can't they just call them:

Northeasters????

I miss hurricane season.

I miss watching west bound tropical waves.

I enjoyed the snow flakes that fell yesterday.

They are mostly melted.

You know why?

Cause we live Down South!!

Go Carolina!

It snows. It melts.

The sun is out the next day.

Soon I'll be back in Florida.

Can drive it in one day easily!!

Apparently the Gov of CT is on... 

Apparently CT is closed.

Amtrak isn't running.

Just why do you need to be that person?

Okay it's a lot of money for a lot.

But oh my goodness what a lot it was..

The breeze on that lot is awesome.

A warm, soft, balmy breeze.

Think about it.

Move South.

Look at that house.

Beautiful.

Palm trees.

Sun.

Green Yard!

No snow.....

Great schools!!

Kids playing outside all year.

https://www.jewishmontessori.miami/blog

Just do it.

Live the Florida Lifestyle.

Even if just for the winter.

Be a Snowbird!!!

Fly South...

https://www.compass.com/agents/miami/levi-meyer/

Dig out, get your power back and find a place in paradise. Even if it's just for the winter... seriously the only people who should be out in a Nor'Easter are people being paid to who work for The Weather Channel!

Besos BobbiStorm.

Ps... On any given day my other son Moe and his wife and baby are having breakfast here in Hollywood Florida. They get in the car ...drive around the block (hang left at Hollywood Blvd) and order coffee and breakfast with a view. This can be your view....

Just across the street from Margaritaville!

http://giorgiosbakery.com/locations/

Sun Shows Off In Miami Today. Models Show Something Later in June.. maybe. In June You Always Stay Tuned... Victoria's Secrets Sales and Miami Madness ;)

AND IT DID!

The SUN came out!!

http://www.intellicast.com/Storm/Hurricane/AtlanticSatellite.aspx?animate=true

I want to point out two things.

1. Most of Florida was sunny.

2. Nice little wave coming off Africa.

Okay, early but pointing it out.

Prayers were answered.

It rained.

It stopped raining.

People in Miami have seemed a little kvetchy these days regarding the lack of sunshine. Luckily today the sun came out and although dark clouds threatened they didn't rain on my parade. Let the sun shine in has been the public mantra the last few days.

It does rain in Miami this time of year often. It's called the "rainy season" for a reason as the hotel owners try calling the rain "liquid sunshine" but the locals all cried Uncle and Uncle seems to have delivered the sunshine.  Everyone has had enough. Golf courses have crawled up into people's back yards and some of those new ponds may have alligator hazards. Streets are flooded and Sawgrass Mills mall was flooded. To be fair when people complain in places like Weston or near Sawgrass they shouldn't as they are basically living in the Everglades. It may look nice but the sea level is really low. This is not a matter of sea levels rising it's a matter of paving paradise and putting up a parking lot.

https://www.local10.com/weather/sawgrass-mills-mall-parking-lot-flooded-thursday-status

My best friend's son posted this on Facebook. I'm hoping he's happier today and at the beach or by a pool rather than complaining. Well, to be fair he does like controversy and to complain but no one wants anymore rain anytime soon in Miami. Up by the drought stricken Florida Georgia Line and in Port St. Lucie they always want rain.

Short post here to say Lancome makes wonderful colors for nail polish, but it never stays on more than a few hours. I digress. I went shopping today, can you tell? I did some work on a writing project, took in the feel of Miami and spoke to some good friends. When you see Floridian Beer and Food Truck purses in Aventura you know you are in Miami. It's a fun, funky, funny sort of place where people are in good moods often as they are in flip flops and not bogged down in winter clothing ever. Today I saw a lady buy a sexy leopard bra in Victoria's Secret and then she came out of the dressing room wearing it, paid for it and left the store in her bra and hip hugger torn shorts. No shirt, no problem....... No one seemed to care she bought the bra as an outer garment as she sauntered past the security guard and other shoppers. Life in Florida... Really you want to live up north why? Oh............. because you are afraid of Hurricanes? Hmnnn... buy good shutters and move on down or move to California and deal with Earthquakes. You can prepare for a hurricane, you have lead time to evacuate. There is no warnings for Earthquakes.... not really. In Miami we have information pamphlets in most languages so not understanding English is not an excuse down here.

As a motivation to get you a bit ready be aware that there are models playing at some sort of development in the Caribbean next week. Let's say a lowering of pressure and rainy weather with a possibly adjacent Low. The image is below is one of a few and you can always check with Tropical Tidbits yourself as well as remembering it's located on the top left of www.spaghettimodels.com. They change on every run so don't worry but please feel free to go stock up on your hurricane supplies. I love the word in Spanish ... "una tormenta" as I think it conveys the problems better than the word "Hurricane" does...

I'll update sometime later this weekend as the models get closer to figuring out what may or may not happen as we move our way through the early part of June. Stay tuned....

Besos BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on Twitter, follow me for faster updates!

Flooding in NC, Sunshine in Miami

This excellently explains the flooding problem in Raleigh.

Many people have asked me if I am okay with regard to the flooding in the Raleigh area this week. Yes, actually I'm fine as it relates to the flooding as I am in Florida dealing with a family health crisis. My kids are fine, but my father-in-law and mother-in-law both require some up close and personal attention on different levels. So, if I am not around much and writing as much as I normally do that's why. I'm also visiting with my kids and some of my friends and working on a project on Miami History.

The truth is Raleigh, in particular, is a very screwed up city in many ways. I'd say numerous, but that would be redundant. It's a great place to get a lot of bang for your buck in that you can have a nice house for pennies on the dollar compared to other places to live. The winters are not as bad and if you like the seasons.......... it's a good place to live. It has an awful infrastructure. You get what you pay for........

Most neighborhoods do not have sidewalks, many big streets do not have street lights and in an area heavily wooded it gets really dark without street lights. It is one of the most heavily taxed cities in the South, yet you don't get much for what you give in to the bucket. Well, I'd say the money goes to the local colleges, sports teams perhaps... hard to say. When you pay city, state and federal taxes you'd think you could get sidewalks, streetlights and work on the drainage problem. Spoiler alert they blame the Yankees for coming to town for tech jobs and clogging up everything. Get a plunger seriously...........this is not rocket science.

The area has a topography that is problematic when it rains or snows or the roads ice over. It's the Piedmont, the area between the beautiful sea and the mountains where the land begins to rise depending on the street you live. There was once a vibrant river with towns that was damned up... flooded to make a lake and to control the floodplain, etc. They made the lakes yet they messed up with the "controlling the floodplain" area part.

Further inland you go the more complex the terrain is...

...especially messy when it rains.

When the drains are clogged messier.

I was told when I first went to Raleigh there is a battle between the people who want to keep it Mayberry and the people who want it to be a beacon of the New South. It's messy. On good days it's a great place to live if you want a nice house in a nice area with little crime (that's changing) and good jobs. Between the every other year or so flooding of Crabtree Creek and a possible hurricane or yearly battles with winter storms which is a problem when they advertise themselves that they don't get winter (they do) it's not that rare. It won't be solved until they figure out a way to solve it but like waiting for the snow to melt rather than plow the streets for a week, they just wait for the water to recede.

I'm in Miami. Blue skies, fresh air. 

Kind of ironic that when I'm in Raleigh they wax poetic about how stupid it is to live down by the coast because of global warming and remind me that Miami is going to be under water. Yet, Miami builds for rising water and storm surge and Raleigh (far inland) is always flooding. Hmnnn....

Purple dots come and go these days in the Atlantic and there is possible development down in the Caribbean or the EPAC in the beginning of May. I'll go long on discussion on the tropics in a day or two after the models battle it out and we see how it really is evolving.

For now... stay well, smile, laugh often and I'll be back when time permits.

Besos BobbiStorm

@bobbistorm on Twitter

Blogging from Israel..so What is it like? Cold, warm... both and wild.

That was last night in Jerusalem at the Wall. 

We prayed there a while.

I got to watch sunset as we drove up to the Wall.

We also did the Tunnel Tours. 

You MUST do them if you go..

You don't have to be Jewish.

We had Germans, people from Thailand and Americans.

It really gives you a sense of history, the bible and just a wonder of the world.

They explain the geography, weather and history and how it relates.

How various generations of invaders came and went.

Each adding their own style and touch to the construction.

The very mountain the "Wall" of the Old Temple is built on is HIGH.

Note it's a lot of walking..

So I'm posting from Netanya in Israel. It's a beach city much like Miami Beach in ways but more a combination of Santa Monica and Miami Beach with a touch of Laguna Beach thrown in as well. Sort of like you are in a movie where everyone is speaking in Hebrew and you can't find subtitles in English unless you see PIZZA HUT, IKEA or OFFICE DEPOT signs in English lit up along the side of the road in neon lights. National Geographic Channel is on tv here everywhere with Hebrew Subtitles, I guess that's why Israelis love to travel and see the world. And then many come back to Israel while others stay in America a while. My son-in-law to be is from Netanya of Yemenite/Persian background and his family has lived in Israel for generations. He lives and works in Miami where he met my daughter and they've been together a long time so I feel more like he's a son than a stranger coming into the family. It's a custom to go the Wall before the Chuppah which is the RELIGIOUS wedding ceremony vs a regular legal one in America. Sometimes we do it the other way around as when I got remarried I had a Chuppah but waited a few years for the legal, civil ceremony.

To understand this blog post I attended Hebrew School when I was little after public school where I learned for a few years to say things like EMA BO! Meaning Mother is here! Then ABA BO! Meaning Father is here. Maybe it was Po but think it was Bo so you get the idea. I can't really speak Hebrew but I can read it and understand a little. My list of words is mostly things like "now" "only" "if" "what" "who" "good" "no" "ok" which isn't enough to really string a sentence together but works a bit. His family doesn't speak English. One brother does a bit and a brother in law speaks some as well as Spanish as he was born in Argentina. Yay I can speak a bit of Spanish. Yiddish doesn't work well here as it is mostly a European blend of Hebrew and German so that only works if you are some where that American's who are orthodox or people from England made Aliyah.

When I try to speak Hebrew my mind mixes it all into a mish mash of one word English, one Spanish, one Hebrew and one Yiddish so I smile a lot.

It's very much like LA in that you can drive a half an hour up a mountain and going from boots and sweaters being okay to suddenly freezing.

The spiritual aspect of it is slow to hit me and unfolds the way a rose does as you see layers of it all. The sun setting on the Arab quarter was awesome. It reminds me of Seattle a bit ways and then Laguna and then "OH wow I'm in Israel!"

So here are some pictures and this is where I am living on the Israeli weather sites. Note you have to change them to F from C and well you get the idea.

http://www.ims.gov.il/IMSENG/All_Tahazit/homepage.htm

What I don't understand is..............

55 degrees in Jerusalem seems so much colder than Raleigh.

It's really cold and in Raleigh I'd wear a sweater ...

...yet here I needed a winter coat.

And yet in summer it would be warm so...

... I'm not getting a summer vacation from winter.

The fruit in the shuk wow.

You can live on the halvah and baklava a lone.

Arab area... nice.

Some of the family "at the wall"

So that's it.

I'm either going to the beach or the Dead Sea or Jerusalem later.

I'm here with several kids and family so everything is fluid.

Sorry for any typos, I'm tired.

Jet lag but running.

love you all and will let Mike do American weather this week.

I'll be back next week covering winter weather and anything tropical.

Besos BobbiStorm

Shalom in Israel

@bobbistorm on TwitterB

Cold Winter. Miami Awaits. South of the Freeze Line. Or Buy Snow Boots! Compass Realty

Today is the day when people on the East Coast ponder buying that pair of snow boots they have been wanting but were waiting for after Holiday sales. There's rumors of snow...

Note Winter's song is now heard all the way through North Florida.

South Florida is holding out as always.

See the oranges by South Florida.

They are reminiscent of Julia Tuttle's oranges.

Groves in Miami weren't destroyed by the Hard Freeze of 1894-95.

Julia Tuttle was said to have sent Old Henry Flagler oranges.

The oranges were alive... blossoms fresh.

The crop wasn't destroyed.

Henry who is better known for hotels and railroads...

...was making money on the agriculture boom in Florida.

The first boom being the farming boom.

Then the Real Estate Boom that busted the farming boom.

Coral Gables was originally Orange Groves.

Thus the  name... Coral Gables.

He build houses with coral gables and coral roof tiles.

But the orange groves were mowed down for the housing boom.

You win some you lose some.

In Downtown Miami they sold oranges to tourists.

My mother's best friend's mother had a juicing stand.

Across from the Olympic Theater on Miami's Main Street.

Tourists, Sailors, Cubans up from Havana shopping.

All came to get fresh squeezed orange juice.

Stores sold orange perfume to tourists.

My Great Aunt got married with a bouquet of Orange Blossoms.

Really... it was all the rage back then.

She lived in Tampa, but same thing.

Orange Groves brought the money rolling in.

Then came the Orange Bowl Parade.

The Jr. Orange Bowl Parade is alive in Coral Gables.

Of course...

The Orange Bowl Game Still lives... 

Oranges helped make Miami what it is..

Go figure.

Try and find an orange tree anymore...

We had one in our backyard. Not easy to climb.

And we got in trouble for climbing it.. 

So yes Julia Tuttle knew the value of being south of the freeze line.

One of my favorite people is my good friend Historian Paul George.

You might want to sit a spell and listen a bit.

Paul's favorite History Tour is the City Cemetery.

Okay he is born on Halloween so this shouldn't be a surprise.

Listen to "Julia" tell the story in "her" words :)

That's the land she bought.

The beautiful hotel.

Prime Real Estate.

Now if you think on that a bit...

We got from there to here....

What a city.

So while watching that frost line move South....

...and the temperatures drop deeper and deeper down.

Look around and wonder if you really, really like the Seasons.

Or would you rather fly South to Miami.

Orange has given way to white.

White fancy new Spec Houses.

White buildings with touches of playful color.

White beaches, blue water.

Whether you are in Coconut Grove (incredible)

Miami Beach...love it!

Or just plain old Miami..

Usually, but not always, the freeze line is in the rear view mirror.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2630-Natoma-St-Miami-FL-33133/2100784900_zpid/

My son is a 5th Generation Floridian.

We've built homes, sold homes and loved homes.

He loves Royal Poinciana Trees...

..being his mother I know that.

Beautiful historic real Miami home in the Grove.

That's the street it's on...

.... palms, orange poincianas, blue skies.

Green all year.

That's my Levi ;)

He's not worrying on buying snow boots this year.

https://www.compass.com/agents/miami/levi-meyer/

That's the bottom line.

Either you LOVE the Seasons.

And they are nice.. especially when you can fly South.

Buy a condo downtown not far from Julia Tuttle's home....

...when it gets too cold up in Cleveland, Ohio.

Do you really want to buy winter clothes?

You're call.

Because the bottom line is winter is on the way.

And it's gonna get cold really soon.

So if you aren't flying South in sandals.

Buy boots.

The forecast for the next week UP North is COLD.

And it's only gonna get colder..

Besos BobbiStorm

Ps I have to add there is the smallest chance of something forming.

Tropically at the bottom of the front in the SW GOM.

But until it gets more realistic it's just some rain.

Rain is better than snow unless you love snow.

I'm more a believer on Winter and snow now.

But as the Hurricane Season started in January...

...stay tuned just in case