A Beautiful Sunrise, or the Start of WWIII
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (122579)
Gainesville, Florida
February 8, 2020 6:01am CST
I'm in beautiful Kissimmee, Florida this weekend (the greater Orlando area) for the first tournament of the 2020 paintball season. We're on day three of the 4-day tournament. While checking in this morning, I captured this beautiful sunrise sky. A picture never does justice, but when the sun first peaked above the horizon, it really looked like a giant explosion had taken place to our east. But rest assured, all is well, and it really was just clouds in the sky! It was a brisk 36 degrees this morning (2.2 C), so I'm surprised I was able to hold my phone steady enough to capture the photo since I'm shivering so much from the cold!
Weather-wise, this has been a super interesting tournament so far. On Thursday, it was hot and windy; then yesterday it was pouring down rain and windy (like hurricane windy); and today it is freezing cold and clear. I'm just happy the wind has died down, although it's not going to be fun getting hit by cold paint (the colder the paintballs, the harder they are and the more they hurt when they hit you). It looks like Florida is going to get a taste of all four seasons in a single weekend.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Saturday! Our first game is an hour away, so I'm going to calm my nerves and relax in our pit area by spending a little time on myLot. I'll ty to pop in here throughout the day as we get breaks.
21 people like this
21 responses
I was thinking that Florida was always warm, but it is warmer in my place today. May a gator catch a cold
@topffer (42155)
• France
8 Feb 20
@moffittjc Exactly ! In my area it may freeze up to early April and I am pessimistic.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
Yes, Florida is not always the warm paradise that everyone thinks it is. There are a few times a year when it gets really cold here. Thankfully, there's not many days like that, but it happens every now and then! When we get the cold blasts of Arctic air pushing this far south, it usually doesn't last long. It will be freezing cold today, and tomorrow it will be mild, and then by Monday it will be warm again!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
@topffer I went camping in a desert one time and experienced exactly what you just mentioned. It was blistering hot during the day, and then freezing cold at night! Talk about weather extremes, it was quite the interesting experience!
The citrus industry is huge here in Florida, and our farmers have been watching and worrying about the weather. Because we've had a warm winter as well, our citrus trees have already started to bloom. If a hard freeze hits the area, it could destroy or damage our citrus industry. We're about 2-3 weeks away from being out of the danger zone, and so far the long-term forecast doesn't call for any hard freezes, but Mother Nature always does what she wants and sometimes these things can be quite unpredictable.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (183856)
• United States
8 Feb 20
Great photo. Good luck with the tournament! Keep us posted.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
Thank you! We're playing really badly today. We're only halfway through the day, but this day just can't end fast enough. We can't seem to do anything right. I just want to get through with this day so we can regroup for tomorrow.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
@LindaOHio We regrouped enough to make it out of prelims and move on as a wild card team. Not exactly where we had wanted to be, but we'll take it. Each time we take the field from this point on, it's a chance to redeem ourselves.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (183856)
• United States
8 Feb 20
@moffittjc Yeah, regroup and give yourselves a pep talk! We want to see you win this year!
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (161959)
• United States
8 Feb 20
Your picture is awesome. So far we have not had your wind issue this month but we have cold, and then sun and then about ten minutes of snow. Kansas is confused.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
Kansas sounds like Florida at the moment! We are always confused on what season it should actually be. There's been times here in Florida where we've experienced all four seasons in one day! haha
1 person likes this
@sprite1950 (30452)
• Corsham, England
12 Feb 20
What an amazing picture. It seems that many countries have been hit by wind recently. It is really cold and windy here in the UK with trees down over the roads and fences collapsing.
Good luck with your game!
1 person likes this
@sprite1950 (30452)
• Corsham, England
12 Feb 20
@moffittjc Well done! You must have been flying high. Did you celebrate after?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Feb 20
@sprite1950 No celebration afterward. Everyone was too exhausted and just wanted to get home.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Feb 20
Thanks! We won the tournament. A great start to our season!
1 person likes this
. That is a gorgeous sunrise! I didn't know that part of Florida got that cold. Brrrrr...@simone10 (54187)
• Louisville, Kentucky
8 Feb 20
@moffittjc I didn't know that about Florida and freezing temps. Wow! I bet you all get pretty cold, not being used to it.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Feb 20
@simone10 We get cold when the temperature drops below 80 degrees! haha
Thankfully, there's only a handful of days where the temperature drops below freezing, or right near the freezing mark.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
If we would have had any chance of snow, it would have been last night. From here on out, the temperature is going to climb back to where we should be at this time of year...which is to say much warmer!
Florida does get cold from time to time, although it's not that often. We probably have freezing and near-freezing conditions less than a dozen days per year.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109846)
• Los Angeles, California
8 Feb 20
Have fun going to "war"!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
Thanks! It does feel like war out there on the field. The only thing missing are missile strikes and explosions! lol
2 people like this
@Juliaacv (52087)
• Canada
8 Feb 20
That is a pretty sunrise.
Ours is pretty this morning too, although I did not take any photos.
I'm sure that 2C is cold when you are out doing paintball, but if you were here in my neck of the woods at this time of the year, you would find it a very nice day.
That has actually been the majority of our winter temperatures.
Today it is cold though, probably -5 or so.
Good luck at the tournament.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
At any other time, I would absolutely be loving these cold temperatures, but definitely not while I'm playing paintball. When it's this cold, those paintballs feel like real bullets hitting you! And thank you for your well-wishes, we've got about 30 minutes until our first game of the day.
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (52087)
• Canada
8 Feb 20
@moffittjc You go and get them, I hate to think of you getting hit with frozen paintballs-ouch!!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
@Juliaacv Thank you! Luckily for me, I am probably the last player on our team to get hit, if everything is going according to plan. If our opponents get to me, then that means we're in trouble and probably will lose the game, since that would mean all my other teammates have gotten killed. I do feel sorry for our lead attackers, they will bear the brunt of the assault of frozen paintballs!
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (472447)
• Switzerland
8 Feb 20
I have experienced many cold days in Florida and in different locations, from Miami to Panama City Beach. It was less colder here this morning. It is sunny all the time here, but often windy.
We had the taste of all four season in one day last week.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (472447)
• Switzerland
9 Feb 20
@moffittjc I remember that the whole month of February was cold in Panama City Beach in the morning. We rushed inside to have breakfast because outside it was freezing cold. Orlando is not so cold.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Feb 20
@LadyDuck February is definitely our coldest month of the year.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
You can be a witness that it does actually get cold in Florida from time to time. So many times when I tell people that, they don't believe me. All they envision is palm trees, sandy beaches, and warm sunny skies.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (111064)
• Marion, Ohio
8 Feb 20
Good luck. I hope that is just a beautiful sunrise. But anymore you dont know.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (111064)
• Marion, Ohio
8 Feb 20
@moffittjc I think WWIII will start when it comes time for rump to leave the white house. Hopefully this coming January
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (111064)
• Marion, Ohio
9 Feb 20
@moffittjc Dont want war but figure he will start one if he loses. He dont wanna leave there and thinks that is a way to stay.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
Well, we're all still here, so it was a beautiful sunrise and not anything else. At least it wasn't the start of Armageddon. Could be an alien invasion, but I haven't seen any evidence of that either.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38869)
• Midland, Michigan
28 Feb 20
Is the cold abnormal for that part of Florida and did you have a coat or something to wear until it warmed later? I'm assuming it did warm up later?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Feb 20
We get spurts of cold weather here in north Florida, so it’s not entirely unusual. It did warm up later in the day. There are very strict rules about our uniforms and layers we can wear, so it’s very rare that the league approves wearing any cold weather gear. Fortunately, we wear so much protection anyway that you really don’t feel the cold.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
6 Mar 20
@MarshaMusselman I would rather be cooler than warmer.
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38869)
• Midland, Michigan
4 Mar 20
@moffittjc that's good unless you're one that would rather be cooler than warmer anyway.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
What is your weather like in South Florida this morning? I thought the cold front pushed all the way through the state, even down south?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
@DianneN Perfect weather for you! It has warmed up nicely here. It's now hovering just about 60.
1 person likes this
@DianneN (247183)
• United States
8 Feb 20
@moffittjc It was cool during the night. 59/as a low and will go up to 75. Partly sunny.
I just checked.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Feb 20
No, I'm not one to poke fun of place names. We have plenty of those in Florida, and I know how hard it is sometimes to pronounce them correctly. But I do laugh sometimes when visitors mispronounce the names!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Feb 20
@JudyEv a lot of our town names here in Florida were originally Timicuan Indian villages, and they’ve just kept their original names over the centuries.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (345445)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Feb 20
@moffittjc We've the names here incredibly hard to pronounce and even harder to remember! And some are so long! Same with people's names. They're so unusual - Bishnu, Sagem, Sardana, Arkash, Gibon, etc, etc.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (130213)
• Israel
9 Feb 20
@moffittjc
Enjoy the tournament. How are you doing in it? You captured it very well. That is not fun to experience all 4 sesons at once. That is nice that you want to spend your breaks here.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Feb 20
Coming here on breaks helps calm my nerves. Sometimes it feels like a war zone out there. We played horrible yesterday, but managed to win just enough games to advance in the rounds today. We just won our first match of the day 3-2, and now we have a small break before the next round.
1 person likes this
@Hannihar (130213)
• Israel
9 Feb 20
@moffittjc
I am glad that coming here calms your nerves. I am glad you advanced.
1 person likes this
@Fa_Maverick (9491)
• Australia
10 Feb 20
So pretty 
. The temperature being at 2.2° less so. Definitely a "no I'm staying in bed." from me situation.
How goes things?
. The temperature being at 2.2° less so. Definitely a "no I'm staying in bed." from me situation.
How goes things?1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 Feb 20
@Fa_Maverick I’m not sure what a doona is, but the way you described it sounds very romantic.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 Feb 20
I must admit, such cold whether is the perfect weather for staying in bed and cuddling.
I’m doing well, but exhausted and sore as hell from our paintball tournament the past four days. The first tournament of the year is always the hardest.
1 person likes this
@Fa_Maverick (9491)
• Australia
10 Feb 20
@moffittjc this is very true cuddling in winter is the best especially by a raging fire with a hot drink under a doona.
Good to hear you're doing well
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (184812)
• United States
8 Feb 20
Enjoy the tournament! I guess the weather is probably gteat down there at the moment. It was a cold start to today, but has warmed into the upper 40's.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
It's definitely beautiful out right now. A great day to be outside enjoying the weather. We should have another gorgeous day tomorrow as well, only slightly warmer.
@Tina30219 (82380)
• Onaway, Michigan
8 Feb 20
@moffittjc That’s good it is cold here as well.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
Thanks Tina! Despite the cold weather, it's a gorgeous day outside!
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
@Tina30219 It's warmed up to just above 60, which to me is perfect.
@FourWalls (71080)
• United States
8 Feb 20
When we first moved to Florida my dear mother of blessed memory saw the name of Kissimmee and pronounced it “Kiss-a-me” instead of ki-SIM-me. It became a running joke in the family, to the point where when we went to Florida on vacation in 1999 I referred to it as “KISS-a-me.” 
Have fun paintballing today.
Have fun paintballing today.1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
I'm pretty sure most of the people from outside of Florida who try to pronounce the name say KISS-a-me instead of Ki-SIM-me. It's one of the ways we tell the locals apart from the tourists! lol
We're having a very rough day today, and not doing well at all. Not a good way to start our season. I hope we can turn it around tomorrow and improve. But for the rest of the day, we're going to be in damage control, just trying to salvage what we can of today's brackets.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (51234)
• United States
9 Feb 20
That is certainly a breathtaking sunrise.
1 person likes this
@andriaperry (118100)
• Anniston, Alabama
8 Feb 20
Yeah! that cold is like a slap in the face to me too
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
...and I hate getting slapped in the face! Stupid cold.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
8 Feb 20
@andriaperry Ok, let's cut out all this face slapping! Mother Nature needs to take a step back up outta our face!
@moffittjc (122579)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 Feb 20
Thank you! Yesterday was a rough day for our team, but we have bounced back nicely this morning.
1 person likes this
