Wind in Sierra Vista AZ (Tucson, Prescott: homes, transfer, living)

[Vinyl Man]

I noticed someone mentioned wind in the SV area. Is there so much wind it creates a problem?? Is there other problems with Benson, Whetstone Sierra Vista area?

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by Vinyl Man

I noticed someone mentioned wind in the SV area. Is there so much wind it creates a problem?? Is there other problems with Benson, Whetstone Sierra Vista area?

Well, we get quite a bit of wind out on our land at J-6 Ranchettes (west of Whetstone at the crest of the gentle ridge that runs between the Whetstone Mts to the south and the Rincons and Little Rincons to the north. Folks in the area jokingly refer to it as "Little Chicago".

I consider this wind to be a bit of a mixed blessing. In the winter it will make it chillier than it would be otherwise (keep in mind our winter highs there bottom out around 60 in Dec/Jan, climbing to the low 60's in Feb, and upper 60's in March). In the summer of course that wind will help provide us with natural air-conditioning (which is a good thing) - so we are taking the bad with the good.

The monthly 24 hour average wind speed (in MPH) are as follows:

Jan - 6
Feb - 7
Mar - 7
April - 6
May - 7
June - 6
July - 5
Aug - 4
Sept - 5
Oct - 5
Nov - 5
Dec - 6

Keep in mind that these are 24 hr averages and that the wind at night tends to be minimal meaning that typical daytime winds are higher than the average shown above. The general pattern seems to be: calm in the morning, picking up as the day heats up, then dying off again in the evening as the day cools. It's not unusual to get some pretty good gusts at some point during the day. Most days seem to get peak gusts in the upper teens to mid twenties range (though gusts in the thirties are not usual).

Take a look here:

WunderMap Interactive Radar & Weather Stations : Weather Underground

If you click on one of the links (on the right) for the private weather stations (or click on one of the temp markers - which indicate those private weather stations then click on the weather station hyperlink that pops up) you get the web page for that weather station and can review the historical information for yourself (including wind readings). Different stations will have of course different lengths of historical data (and slightly different collections of data - depending on the weather station software/hardware used at that station) so look at several.

Note that the J-6 weather station I use (Weather Station History : Weather Underground) for my averages (closest to my lot) is no longer providing current info (was shut down apparently this last April) but still has 5 years worth of hourly historical readings.

Ken

[drb85650]

Living and working in Sierra Vista, our "windy" time is springtime. Even then, it's nothing like Kingman. Just that I hate the wind during anything but hot weather, so even a breeze bugs me.
I've seen some gust here or 50mph or so, but usually it's just enough to blow your hat off. Last about 2 months, no biggie.

[Vinyl Man]

Thanks for your replies, I am trying to decide between the Show Low to Prescott area or the Sierra Vista, Benson, St David areas.
I would love your recommendations.

BTW I am also Ken
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[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by Vinyl Man

Thanks for your replies, I am trying to decide between the Show Low to Prescott area or the Sierra Vista, Benson, St David areas.
I would love your recommendations.

BTW I am also Ken
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Well, hey Ken,

Can't tell you anything about Show Low or Prescott. St David is essentially Benson. Benson is MUCH smaller than SV (which is a pretty good sized town). If you do a search on "Benson" you'll fine I wrote a bunch of stuff about Benson/Whetstone/J-6 a while back for a woman who was thinking about taking a transfer job to the Walmart there. There's quite a bit of info in those threads.

Ken

[Boompa]

Sierra Vista is a town of about 50,000 people, more than half of whom are military, retired military or military dependents at Ft Huachuca. It is at 4,500 ft which is why the temp is around 80 degrees almost year round. It is the wettest place in Arizona and a good place to live if you don't mind being at the far end of everything.
Yes, it is VERY windy, that took a little getting used to. For instance a lot of the military who have transferredd in will decorate for Christmas, only to see their decorations blowing across a field. As a military retiree I love it here.

[drb85650]

Benson seems to run hotter than SV in the summer by about 3-5 degrees. It's always impressed me as a "redneck" town, perhaps underserved. Right on the interstate, but not far enough away from Tucson to not be a bedroom community for some.
St. David is a very pretty area, lots of trees along the "river"(understand that Arizona rivers are usually sand, not water, except for the monsoon and winter run off times). St. David is also close knit, alot of family infrastructure I guess would be a good word. People whose great grandparents homesteaded there, etc....it was a Mormon community in decades past. Now there's a monastery smack dab in the middle of it. Personally, I'd always worry about flooding if I lived there.
SV is scheduled to get a Wal Mart supercenter and maybe, maybe....a Sams club sometime next year. It is needed, we have a lack of grocery shopping. Always crowded, aggravating. Frys, Food City and Safeway...that's it.

[Vinyl Man]

Thanks, all information helps this grandpa make a decision.