It's December, the start of winter. Can snow in Florida be right around the corner?
News and information you can use to make you the smartest person in the room -- or the Zoom!
December has finally arrived, which means there are at least four important events and milestones to recognize today, none of which involve politics for a change of pace.
It’s the first day of winter.
It is the first day since the end of hurricane season.
It’s Cyber Monday.
And it’s free Florida Man day.
Brrrrrr
About now, I know some of you are thinking: “Hold on there, dude, it can’t be the start of winter. Got my calendar right here, and it clearly shows autumn doesn’t end for three more weeks.”
Well, your calendar isn’t wrong. It just doesn’t tell the whole story.
There are two ways to denote the four seasons of the year. The one we’re most used to was devised by astronomers based on the changing length of daylight as the Earth orbits the Sun.
It’s true that Dec. 21 has the least amount of sunlight in the northern hemisphere—the winter solstice—and that some people say that’s the start of winter.
But not meteorologists.
Nope. Winter starts on Dec. 1, they say. Why? Because the seasons of the year should be based on average temperatures, not the length of the daytimes. And Dec. 1 marks the start of the three coldest months of the year.
Even though I was an astronomy major in college, I’m siding with the weather forecasters on this one.
When can we expect snow here in Florida?
Well, it doesn’t happen often. But last January, the Florida Panhandle got about two inches of sleet and snow. Further south, it’s even more rare.
In Miami, the last reported snow flurries were in 1977, the first time in more than 200 years. It was front page news. Key West, as far as the records show, has never seen snow.
Cyclones be gone
Hurricane season officially ended on Nov. 30, although for all practical purposes we hadn’t seen any significant disturbances in the Atlantic Basin since Melissa in October.
And 2025 was the first year in a while that no hurricanes hit the state. The longest running-hurricane-free streak lasted from 2006 through 2015.
There have been individual years, like this one, in which there have been no landfalls, although most—but not all— of those years did experience tropical storm impacts.
The Atlantic hurricane season names for 2026 will be: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine, Kyle, Leah, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky, and Wilfred.
Cyber Monday
Today is Cyber Monday’s twentieth anniversary. It often is the biggest shopping day for retailers all year long. How big is it? According to Adobe Analytics, shoppers dropped more than $13 billion last year. Two bits of advice: After comparison shopping, don’t procrastinate if you find something you want. Sometimes supplies at cut-rate prices are limited. Consumers are also advised to check the fine print regarding returns. Caveat emptor and all that.
Free Florida Man Day
As you’ll read in a moment, Cyber Monday is also Christmas Book Day, so give yourself an early present and download a free Kindle copy of this exciting episode in The Strange Files series of mysteries: Florida Man.
No gimmicks. No strings attached. Florida Man is available on Amazon Kindle to download for the next five days for free. Anyone can get a copy, although because you subscribe to this newsletter, you are getting a special notice.
It’s my way of saying thank you for being a subscriber.
What’s Florida Man about? Here’s the book jacket description:
Alexander Strange wants to get to Florida in the worst way. So, he arrives in a coffin. And why not? He writes about news of the weird for a living, so what could be crazier than that? Well, how about that psychic he picks up in New Orleans along the way -- the one who sees death in his future? Will her prediction come true? Seems like it could when Alexander hooks up with an old college friend who is being blackmailed by a mad rhymester who sends her on a scavenger hunt across the state to a series of oddly haunted tourist traps. Kinda funny. Until it isn’t. Bullets will do that.
Florida Man is actually the second novel in the six-book series, but it’s where Alexander Strange arrives in Florida to start his career here at Tropic Press. I spent a couple of weeks driving all over the state to some of the zaniest locations to set the stage for this scavenger hunt. It begins and ends at Gainesville’s Devil’s Millhopper, and in between, Alexander travels to a village populated by mystics, the home of the hollow Earth people, and the legendary home of the Florida Skunk Ape.
The Online Book Club had this to say about it:
“Florida Man by J.C. Bruce … is full of twists and turns. It is simultaneously mystery and comedy with a unique and entertaining plot.”
And now it can be yours for free. Hope you enjoy.
Onward Thru the Fog
Your weekly guide through the perilous mists of time—at least for the next seven days.
December 1 , in addition to Cyber Monday, it’s also Christmas Book Day. Books make great Christmas presents, and reading is good for your brain, which you already know if you are reading this. And if you’re not reading this, all of your friends are going to make fun of you. You can find suggestions for outstanding reading material at the end of this column.
December 2 is National Skip School Day, an unofficial holiday that got its start on TikTok in 2019 because it was the Monday after somebody’s senior prom somewhere. Like I said, TikTok. It’s not supposed to make sense. And let’s underscore that this is entirely UNOFFICIAL. If you ditch school today and get in hot water, don’t blame me.
December 3 is Heather Day. It’s another holiday that originated on social media. It gained popularity after the release of the song by the same name by Conan Gray. Which, if that doesn’t ring a bell, these lyrics may: “I still remember, third of December, me in your sweater…” Now do you remember? Me, neither.
December 4. Indivisible, the same people who sponsored the No Kings Day rallies, are staging a series of actions in Tallahassee on Dec. 4 to protest efforts by Republicans to once again redraw the state’s congressional districts to make them more favorable for G.O.P. candidates. More information here:
December 4 is also National Cookie Day. Remember, if it doesn’t have chocolate in it, there’s no point in eating it. Chocolate is good for you. It stimulates your brain’s production of serotonin, which makes you feel good and allows you to type faster, which is why I never sit down at the keyboard without a hearty supply of chocolate chip cookies.
December 5. Faux Fur Day. This is a great day to remember that foxes and minks and chinchillas will thank you forever for not wearing real fur. Also, fake fur lessens the chances of getting a bucket of red paint thrown on you.
December 6. Speaking of furry creatures, Florida’s new bear Hunting season opens today. Despite the best efforts of naturalists opposing this, the Free State of Florida is authorizing the “harvesting” of 172 black bears with this new hunting season.
It’s also National Gazpacho Day. It refers to the cold raw vegetable soup, not U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s 2022 reference to Nancy Pelosi’s “gazpacho police” spying on members of Congress. This happened shortly after discovering Jewish space lasers were starting forest fires. It’s important to get in as many MTG jokes as we can since she soon will be retiring from Congress. Thankfully, Washington provides countless others to mock.
December 7. National Pearl Harbor Day of Remembrance, honoring the lives lost on this “day that will live in infamy” in 1941, launching the United States into World War II. More than 2,400 Americans died in that sneak attack. Some years ago, my wife and I toured the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Our guide was a very respectful young man of Japanese descent. Interesting isn’t it how one-time enemies can become friends. It should give us hope.
You can stay abreast of coming events and milestones in my ESSENTIAL NEWS column in Florida Weekly. The newspaper actually publishes my articles a week in advance online if you want to get a head start and beat the stampede to the newsstands. There are local editions for Fort Myers, Charlotte County, Bonita Springs, Naples, Key WEst and Palm Beach.
J.C. Bruce, journalist and author, is the founder of Tropic Press. He holds dual citizenship in the United States of America and his native Florida. His Strange Files series of mysteries has won numerous awards including his latest—Strange Timing—being named Book of the Year in the Royal Palm Literary Awards.
More online
Thank you for reading the Tropic Press newsletter. You also have access to the Tropic Press website for additional and previous posts, an archive of posts from our advice columnist, Miss Mingo, occasional guest commentaries, and information about The Strange Files series of mysterious adventures and other books.
Thanks to our sponsor
Today’s report is brought to you by Tropic Press Books, home of The Strange Files. You can find more information about these hilarious stories here:
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Thanks for the book!!
I was 7 and recovering from chickenpox when it snowed. This January, the flurries hit mid Florida. My son was on shift as a paramedic but missed them. It was his birthday and he's never seen snow.
Thanks for the book! Looking forward to reading it!