The Travel Chronicle

RAINBOW SPRINGS · THE 12-MONTH VERDICT · FLORIDA Most Florida trips are timed against the weather. A spring is the exception: the water coming out of the ground in north-central Florida does not have a season, so the month you pick is a decision about air, rain and daylight, not about the swim itself. That … Read more

CLEARWATER · THE 12-MONTH VERDICT · 27.97° N Clearwater’s year turns on four months. June through September drop 33.82 of the 53.62 inches that fall in an average year, roughly 63 percent of the rain packed into a third of the calendar. The other eight months are dry enough that the beach town’s whole reputation … Read more

HOMOSASSA SPRINGS · FLORIDA · THE 12-MONTH VERDICT Homosassa Springs sits on Florida’s Gulf side, north of Tampa Bay, in a stretch of the state where the air and the water keep separate calendars. The air runs a full seasonal swing: 90.9°F afternoons in an average August, 5.4 nights at or below freezing in an … Read more

FLORIDA · MADISON BLUE SPRING · THE 12-MONTH VERDICT Madison Blue Spring is a bowl of clear water in the limestone country of north Florida, a short walk from a state park lot. The air above it swings 29.3°F between January and July. The water does not swing at all: the spring has no season, … Read more

ICHETUCKNEE SPRINGS · FLORIDA · THE 12-MONTH VERDICT The spring run holds its temperature all year. What moves is the air above it: 90.1°F in July, 65.9°F in January at the nearest official thermometer, with 8.5 January nights that drop to 32°F or below. That gap decides your day at Ichetucknee far more than the … Read more

FLORIDA · GINNIE SPRINGS · THE 12-MONTH VERDICT The water at Ginnie Springs comes out of the ground at the same temperature in January as it does in July. That one property reorders the usual Florida question. The air above it does have a season, and a pronounced one: 67.1°F afternoons in January, 91.1°F in … Read more