The Weather

There are a lot of things that a Captain can control on a fishing trip. What kind of bait to use, when to leave, and when to return? What type of fish to target? How fast to troll or where to anchor and more. But the one thing that is beyond the control of the Captain is the weather. We have a saying in Key West, (and I have heard it associated with other places), “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a few minutes” Sometimes it changes just that quickly. Sometimes better and sometimes worse. Usually, if it changes quickly, it is for the worse.

This time of year

A cold front coming through the Keys causes a quick change in the weather. Typically, the day before or the day a cold front arrives is absolutely beautiful! It is warm, sunny, and calm—exactly the weather everyone imagines when heading to Florida for a winter getaway vacation! At some point, a small line of dark clouds will appear to the northwest of Key West. It’s the leading edge of the cold front and it gradually gets bigger, darker, and closer. sometimes it moves slowly and sometimes it comes in fast. The fast ones are usually the stronger ones and the weather can change drastically in just a few minutes. The images below were taken just 17 minutes apart. In the 1st one, you can see the front approaching but it’s still miles away. In the second, just a few minutes later, the rain is torrential, and the wind is blowing 50+mph. Visibility is about 200 ft.

Now, when someone in Key West talks about a “cold” front to just anybody up north, we don’t get a lot of sympathy. Complaining about a bitter 65 degrees will get you the ‘Stinkeye’ from anyone living north of here, and considering we are the Southernmost point in the country, that means everyone! I can’t really explain why, but 65 down here feels much colder than 65 in the north. Maybe because it’s a damp cold, but it just goes right through you.

A few years back, a couple of my regular customers came down in February. They traveled from upper Michigan and they got here just in time for a very strong cold front. Only a few boats braved the weather, but being from Michigan, my guys were not worried about the “Cold” so we went. They all wore their winter jackets on the boat, the same jackets they were wearing in Michigan in February, and they were huddled up in them to keep warm.

I had another regular show-up one day in shorts when the temperature was 65 degrees. I asked him if he wanted to go back to the hotel and get pants and he laughed at me. He thought 65 was balmy and back in Illinois it was considered plenty warm enough for shorts when the thermometer hit 65 degrees.

The problem was he was in Key West and the wind went right through him. By the end of the charter, he could not wait to get in the car because he was “freezing” from the damp cold of 65 degrees. It’s just a different type of cold!

We are lucky because the water surrounding Key West stays relatively warm, even in the winter months, our temperature has never dipped below freezing. I have heard different numbers for the all-time record cold for Key West, Florida, but in the 43+ years I have been here, 44 degrees is the coldest I have seen………..and yes, I thought it was very cold! The coldest weather I have ever been in was back in NJ one night when I went tobogganing with friends. The temperature was reported to be close to 50 Below (with a wind chill), So I HAVE been in cold weather………that’s why I live in Key West!

My wife used to say that you could tell when someone moved to Key West by their winter jacket. You only wear them 6-8 times a year so they never wear out. If you know when the style was popular, you can guess when that person moved to Key West.

Our Weather changes with the time of year, just like other places, but to be honest, we don’t really have 4 seasons like much of the country. Normally it’s great weather in the winter………..with an occasional Cold Front to keep us honest. 70’s during the day and 60’s at night and relatively low humidity. But in the Summer, it is just hot and high humidity. Again, because of the water surrounding Key West, we never get over 100 degrees, but it is not uncommon to get a heat index of 110 or greater in the summer. It doesn’t take much to “break a sweat”. Things like breathing or watering plants are usually enough to cause you to perspire from June through September. Even once the sun goes down, it’s still hot. The ocean water surrounding Key West can get as warm as 85 degrees or warmer so the temperature never drops below that. If you get up at 4 am it will still be around 85 degrees outside.

By April, we start seeing temperatures in the 80’s. Still not too bad if you are used to the heat and every full-time resident is. June is the start of the “Rainy Season” and we see highs in the high eighties to low nineties. Pretty much the “big Heat’ is on by then. Once we get into July. it is usually in the low to mid-nineties every day with 90+ humidity. The heat can be like a wall when you walk out for the AC. While we start getting Thunderstorms anytime from Spring on, it seems they are much more common starting in July. Thunderstorms differ from cold fronts. They are smaller and more localized and you can somewhat avoid them. Cold fronts are a wall of weather that is going to pass over you. There is no going around it.

Sometimes, a thunderstorm is just a quick passing shower. Just enough that I don’t have to water my yard. Other times, it can be torrential rain and 50+ mph winds and last for hours. As a boat Captain, getting caught in a thunderstorm offshore is not fun, it’s not the rain that is a concern. It is the big sparks! otherwise known as lightning! I have been caught in storms with nonstop lightning strikes all around the boat. When you are sitting at the highest point around,(the flying bridge), surrounded by a metal cage, ( the pipe top and frame), in between two long metal poles, (the outriggers), and holding a steel steering wheel, you are not a fan of lightning. Sitting on my front porch with a glass of Rum or wine and smoking a cigar, it is beautiful. Sitting at the helm, lightning can be terrifying!

The Southbound has never been struck by lightning, but I do know a few boats that have been. Fortunately, nobody I have known has been badly hurt, but it does play hell with anything electrical on a boat. That is a headache and expense I would rather not have. Most of the time we can troll around a thunderstorm if they are not too big and most times, we do, but sometimes you just have to go through them and it definitely gets your attention!

In the summer months, it is very rare that a thunderstorm prevents us from fishing. It is only if the storms are massive or full of lightning that we will cancel. Most days it’s just a pretty cool light show if seen from a distance.

is the biggest weather concern we have in South Florida. The official start of Hurricane season is June 1st. Storms that early are unusual. Late July to the end of September or even early October is the “meat” of Hurricane season. That is when the surrounding waters are warmest, the air is the most humid and the majority of Low-pressure systems start forming off Africa and down in the Caribbean. A hurricane is a low pressure and a cold front is a high-pressure system. When they meet, the High pressure always wins. Sometimes that will turn a hurricane up into the Atlantic and away from Key West and sometimes it will turn it right into Key West. It’s all timing.

Back in August of 2017, Hurricane Irma would have missed Key West, but it bumped into a High pressure and that turned into the northeast and right over the Florida Keys. It was a category 5 storm with maximum winds of 180mph. The eye went over Big Pine Key, about 40 miles north of Key West. Bad for them, unfortunately. There was a lot of damage. Key West was on the “Backside” of the storm and the winds on the backside are usually not as strong as the front side. I believe Key West winds just under 100 mph while Big Pine Key got winds of 120 or greater. We still had a lot of homes flooded and other damage, but it could have been a lot worse. So far, I have been lucky, neither my charter boat, the Southbound, nor my house has had any damage from storms. I hope my luck holds

Usually look forward to the 1st warm day of spring. After a long cold winter, it is wonderful when the temperature gets into 60’s or even the low 70’s and the sun feels like a long-lost friend as it warms you up. However, down here in the tropics, it’s just the opposite. We look forward to the 1st Cold Front in the fall. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, after getting beat up by the heat and humidity all summer, any cooler and dryer weather feels amazing! Also, as I mentioned earlier, any high pressure will beat a low pressure so once we start getting cold fronts, our chance of getting a Hurricane drops. I have seen hurricanes as late as late October. I believe Hurricane Wilma, back in 2005, was in late October. it didn’t hit Key West or the Florida Keys directly, but it did cause a tidal surge and flooding. My boat, the charter boat Southbound and all the boats at Charter Boat Row were floating 3 ft above the dock. I can attest to this personally because I waded over to the dock through water that was between waist and chest deep to check on the Southbound. It was bout 8:30 in the morning and almost the entire east end of Key West was flooded. I had to climb up on my sign to get on the boat. I was lucky, the boat floated up and back down with no damage.

The surge did not last long. By 10:30 I was able to drive over to the dock and park behind my boat. Even though the tidal surge waters receded quickly, you don’t have to have 3 ft of water in your house for but a few seconds to cause some major damage. While I was lucky, many of my friends did have substantial damage. I truly hope I never see that again!

Image above shows the Southbound,(blue dot), in the middle of a wide area of heavy rain

sure everyone wants a beautiful sunny day to go fishing, but with a large covered cabin, my customers can get out of the rain. It’s the wind that really causes the problems. Wind makes waves and strong wind makes big waves and for the majority of my customers, big waves are no fun. I can’t say I blame them. I can handle the waves. The biggest seas I have ever been out in on the Southbound were 10-12 ft with an occasional 14 ft wave. My customers actually handled it. The Southbound handled it, my 1st mate and I handled it, but I probably wouldn’t take people out in waves that big again. As I get older, hopefully, I’m getting wiser and It’s not worth the risk to the boat or the Customers. Anything 6 ft or less is pretty doable on the Southbound. After that, it takes a special customer to hold up

Generally speaking, when you live in Key West, you don’t get much sympathy when you gripe about the weather, (except for Hurricanes). Especially when you complain about the cold. Even if it’s a bitter 55 degrees here, it is almost always much colder anywhere north of Key West, and that I the entire rest of the country. I understand. but we are still going to gripe 😉

Truthfully, Almost everyone here is here for the good weather and we have a lot of that!! The storms, the cold fronts, and the Hurricanes are no fun, but fortunately, most of the time it is either very nice or spectacular! I have been out on the water on some amazingly beautiful days. I have seen hundreds of Sunsets and sunrises, but I still know how lucky I am when I see another one

One type of weather that is pretty rare in Key West is fog. We probably get less than 5 days a year, but when we get it, it can be very thick. We had a day in December when the fog was so thick, I could only see a few hundred feet in front of the boat. Thankfully it doesn’t happen often

Heavy Fog in Key West Harbor. Sunset Key is only about 300 ft away

When it comes to the Weather, as a charter boat Captain and owner, you just have to deal with it. You can complain, celebrate, or anything in between, It doesn’t matter, you can’t do anything about it!

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