Sarasota, Florida weather?

[scrapbookingmommy]

I am new to this board and I am hoping someone can give me some insight as to the weather and in particular, hurricanes in Sarasota, Florida. My husband and I grew up in the Northwest (Seattle area) so we have never had to deal with much in the way of "severe weather" until our family moved to Atlanta last year. Now there is a chance we will be relocated to Sarasota, Florida so here I am trying to do some research on the area and one of the things that concerns me is hurricanes.

Has Sarasota historically been hard hit by hurricanes? Can anyone give me any good websites where I can get this kind of information? Not ever having to worry about such storms I obviously am a little worried about what we could be getting ourselves into...although I think our whole family would love the warmth and sunshine Florida has to offer - my two children, my husband and I are really enjoying the heat of Atlanta if you can believe that. Any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[jasons2k]

Here is a starting point:

http://www.hurricanecity.com/city/sarasota.htm

[Extremeweatherguy]

Historically, Sarasota has been pretty safe from direct hits of hurricanes, but in this new, active cycle nothing is certain. There have been a few close calls over recent years, but luckily Sarasota has gotten away with (at most) tropical storm force conditions each time. If you have never been through a "true" tropical storm or hurricane, you may want to visit this thread for more info. on what it is like and the damage you can expect if one were to affect you:

http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=84589

As for the average climate in Sarasota...you can expect mild winters (January's avg. high is 73F, and it's avg. low is 51F), and humid summers (August avg. high is 91F, and it's avg. low is 72F). The COLDEST it has ever been in Sarasota is in the lower to middle 20s, and the WARMEST is near 100F. Snow flurries have only been recorded in Sarasota twice...once in 1899 and once in 1977.

[scrapbookingmommy]

Thanks for the info. Those links will definitely provide some good info for me to take in.