The claim that Austin weather is better than Houston is a lie? (Baytown: co-op, home)

[Komeht]

There are a lot of reasons one might favor Houston over Austin (better selection of food/restaurants, superior art scene, economic opportunities/jobs, etc.), but weather is not one of them.

Tom Wolfe described Houston like this in The Right Stuff:

"For eight months Houston was an unbelievably torrid effluvial sump with a mass of mushy asphalt, known as Downtown, set in the middle. Then for two months, starting in November, the most amazing winds came sweeping down from Canada, as if down a pipe, and the humid torpor turned into a wet chill. The remaining two months were the moderate ones, although not exactly what you would call spring. The clouds closed in like a lid, and the oil refineries over by Galveston Bay saturated the air, the nose, the lungs, the heart, and the soul with the gassy smell of oil funk. There were bays, canals, lakes, lagoons, bayous everywhere, all of them so greasy and toxic that if you trailed your hand in the water off the back of your rowboat you would lose a knuckle. The fishermen used to like to tell the weekenders: "Don't smoke out there or you'll set the bay on fire. " All the poisonous snakes known to North America were in residence there: rattlers, copperheads, cottonmouths, and corals."

I would say that's pretty much dead on balls accurate from my experience. Though Houston's asphalt is definitely of a higher quality today.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by scm53

"Mommy, Moomy, he's lying" - stuff of sandbox squabbles. Neither is better, just different. Houston is dominated by onshore flow from the Gulf - ergo the higher humidity and afternoon thunder showers. Also, with that much moisture in the air, it takes A LOT of energy to drive the temperatures up. We are dominated by the deserts of west Texas and northern Mexico. Our high temps are always coupled with west and southwesterly winds, which blow these hot air masses towards us. The good news is that, like all desert air, it is relatively dry. When our temps go to 100+, the humidity is almost always in the 20-30% range.

Pick your poison - they both suck in the summer.

Yeah....but which city has longer snakes? Their snakes swim better, but I bet ours are longer !!

[luksky]

Having come from the coast of Alabama and experienced humidity at its best, I prefer Austin's hotter temps and lower humidity levels. At least here you can cool off in the shade and the evenings are cooler. On the coast you feel like you are constantly under a warm, wet blanket even in the shade and there is no relief even when the sun goes down.

[hound 109]

wow...that's pretty coincidental....I posted the other post before reading this. Rats....i don't think Austin has cottonmouths, only rattlers, corals & copperheads.

Seriously, I like visiting Houston...alot (for the reasons Komeht mentions in his first sentence). I've spent half my life there. But Tom Wolfe is a good writer & he nailed it. My mom used to say when we'd get blindsided by a "gassy smell of oil funk"......that "it smells like money".

Originally Posted by Komeht

There are a lot of reasons one might favor Houston over Austin (better selection of food/restaurants, superior art scene, economic opportunities/jobs, etc.), but weather is not one of them.

Tom Wolfe described Houston like this in The Right Stuff:

"For eight months Houston was an unbelievably torrid effluvial sump with a mass of mushy asphalt, known as Downtown, set in the middle. Then for two months, starting in November, the most amazing winds came sweeping down from Canada, as if down a pipe, and the humid torpor turned into a wet chill. The remaining two months were the moderate ones, although not exactly what you would call spring. The clouds closed in like a lid, and the oil refineries over by Galveston Bay saturated the air, the nose, the lungs, the heart, and the soul with the gassy smell of oil funk. There were bays, canals, lakes, lagoons, bayous everywhere, all of them so greasy and toxic that if you trailed your hand in the water off the back of your rowboat you would lose a knuckle. The fishermen used to like to tell the weekenders: "Don't smoke out there or you'll set the bay on fire. " All the poisonous snakes known to North America were in residence there: rattlers, copperheads, cottonmouths, and corals."

I would say that's pretty much dead on balls accurate from my experience. Though Houston's asphalt is definitely of a higher quality today.

[sxrckr]

The only people who say weather is better here, either
- Like having less humidity (though Austin still has humidity in the mornings especially)
- Or, probably have little/no experience in Houston and are just repeating rubbish

BTW, the air comments are highly exaggerated (Dallas is just about as bad now) and Austin gets this stupid Mexican fire smoke and African dust in addition to increasing ozone levels from all the traffic. And nobody lives on the ship channel, at least that I know of... I think in my 3 years there I saw it maybe once, coming back from a road trip to NOLA.

Oh, and I never once "smelled" something in my years living there. Then again I lived central-west, not Channelview or Pasadena (why would someone?) But, keep spreading that rubbish and generalizing the industrial east side to the entire city... I'm sure Houstonians, like us, think there are too many people moving there. That Tom Wolfe exaggeration story is from the 70's, by the way. I'm sure things are exactly the same now as decades ago!

[Trainwreck20]

The air and water have improved enormously since the 60s/70s - I know, I lived there during that time and currently go there frequently for work.

I also agree that the humidity can be a killer for people that are not used to the 95% humidity that occurs not infrequently.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by philopower

It's been hitting a 106 the past few days, what is this crap? In Houston it hasn't been above the 100s this whole week. Next Thursday the forecast is supposed to be a high of 109. WHAT?

I don't know... maybe they say the weather there is "worse" to help themselves feel better about the heat?

I think it's a wash. It's really only bad there for people who can't handle humidity.

I didn't see the 109 forcast. Though I did know we do have several more triple-digit days upcoming.
Just looked at Houston's forcast... high 90's today, mid-low 90's for the weekend with rain. Yeah, just horrible in comparison.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

The air and water have improved enormously since the 60s/70s - I know, I lived there during that time and currently go there frequently for work.

I also agree that the humidity can be a killer for people that are not used to the 95% humidity that occurs not infrequently.

It's usually people from Dallas who like to quote that stupid Tom Wolfe exaggeration story from the 70's.

I agree with your post, except the 95% is exaggerated as well... especially lately.

[Trainwreck20]

I agree with your post, except the 95% is exaggerated as well... especially lately.

The RH tomorrow in Houston is forecast to be 94% from 6 am to 7 am (and give or take before and after). Granted, the T is only 78 F at that time, but you feel like you are swimming to your car in the mornings sometimes.

During the same time tomorrow, Austin is forecast for 79% RH and 77 F. It doesn't look like much on paper, but it feels enormously different.

During the middle of most summer days Austin and Houston have a toss-up when it comes to heat index, often both holding the 'high ground' during different hours of the same day.

To be very superficial, you might say that Austin has better evening/morning/night climate, and Houston has better mid-day climate (in the summer).

When I lived in the Houston area, the RH spiked above 90% even later in the morning or early in the evening more than I care to remember. We had an afternoon (outdoor) basketball game that we had to cancel because the ball got too wet with sweat and would not dry!

[sxrckr]

^I was talking about the majority of the day. Didn't realize you were talking about only before 7am.