Austin, TX -- Is it really where its at?!!! (Earth: home, neighborhoods)

[Gypsy-Moth]

Originally Posted by deeptrance

I have new neighbors, just met them yesterday, who moved to Austin this fall from DC. They describe DC as a "swamp" where the hot days are horrible because the air is so dense, doesn't move, and is extremely humid. ... In Austin you have 3 straight months of blistering heat

This is quite funny to me, as I've lived a few miles away from DC in Northern Virginia for the last eight years, and I've yet to figure out why people say it's so "humid." As far as I'm concerned, if my armpits are dry and my skin isn't sticky, it's not humid worth complaining about. I once lived in a climate where I had to carry a hanky around to wipe the sweat dripping down my face and neck all day, my skin was clammy and I stuck to everything. Now THAT was humid!

DC has a similar amount of humidity as Sacramento (where I used to live), according to frequent checks on WeatherUnderground.com. No one in Sacramento talks about humidity ever. In DC, people say it's humid when to me it's simply hot. I have yet to walk around with a hanky wiping off my face in DC, so I would not agree with anyone who says how humid it is.

That shows you how subjective weather perception is.

I'd be interested in finding out what your idea of "blistering heat" is, in terms of actual temperatures. I once lived in a place that got to 120 degrees one day. That, to me, was blistering! In Sacramento, where it stays in the 100+ range for far too long, I find that really uncomfortable. But I lived near the equator for two years once without any air conditioning, and it didn't kill me.

So, can we get some actual temperatures of what it's like in the typical Austin summer? That would give people a much more accurate assessment of what's comfortable or uncomfortable for them individually.

[lyrobinson]

Originally Posted by dexy

Has anyone been in NYC last summer? When it's 100 degrees outside with 90% humidity and you have to ride subway home?! It feels like 110 degrees minimum on the platform.
My wife and I are thinking about moving to Austin after three years of living in NYC. We are fed up with the summer heat, crowded subways and traffic jams. Therefore, we would like to know what is the humidity during summer in Austin? What about traffic ?

I have to disagree w/AustinGuy who said Austin is humid.....perhaps if he came from Phoenix...but I was a Native Houstonian moving to Austin and trust me it was very nice and low humidity compared to Houston. It does get HOT but it's a much drier hot than that sticky coastline humidity.

Traffic can be a bear but nothing like NYC or other big cities....good luck

[love roses]

I agree with lyrobinson. I lived in Clear Lake before we moved to Denver, and then back here. Houston is waayy more humid. Corpus is even more humid than Houston, IMO. Austin is a cakewalk compared to those two cities.

[AustinGuy]

Originally Posted by love roses

I agree with lyrobinson. I lived in Clear Lake before we moved to Denver, and then back here. Houston is waayy more humid. Corpus is even more humid than Houston, IMO. Austin is a cakewalk compared to those two cities.

Well, of course Austin isn't as humid as coastal Texas. Houston's humidity is only for the brave!

Most people asking about humidity on this forum are moving from California, and Austin is way more humid than CA.

[mgrayce14]

You have convinced me more to move to Austin....

Palm Desert....sometimes 114 in the summer...several days in a row. Great!....Austin is right up my alley...the hotter, the better!

Cheers,
MGrayce,
A New transplant from LA (Louisiana) and LA (Los Angeles)

[StillMissingNC]

Originally Posted by Gypsy-Moth

So, can we get some actual temperatures of what it's like in the typical Austin summer? That would give people a much more accurate assessment of what's comfortable or uncomfortable for them individually.

Good idea! This forum is fill with perceptions, which is fine, but not good for people who are trying to make a fair comparisons. So this website,
Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed provides actual historical data of what the average temperature and humidity has been over the years. It doesn't lie, not to say that the posters are lying, their perception is just different than reality....of course, for them that is reality.(enough of that) I think that you'll be surprise to know that the DC humidity and Austin humidity are nearly the same. However, the number of days in the summer that the temperature exceeds 90 degree is 108 for Austin and 29 for DC. So here is the website, make your own comparisons. BTW-weather.com also provides the same sort of data and a city comparison feature.

[AK123]

Originally Posted by StillMissingNC

Good idea! This forum is fill with perceptions, which is fine, but not good for people who are trying to make a fair comparisons. So this website,
Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed provides actual historical data of what the average temperature and humidity has been over the years. It doesn't lie, not to say that the posters are lying, their perception is just different than reality....of course, for them that is reality

Good point, as several here have said there's a huge difference in humidity between Austin and Houston when really there isn't... I've lived in both cities as well and definitely noticed a difference, but it wasn't a huge difference. Both are on the higher side, though Houston is closer to the beach so I think when the winds blow from that way, you just feel it more in Houston...

From that web site--
Avg annual humidity Austin: 83% a.m., 59% p.m.
Avg annual humidty Houston: 90% a.m., 63% p.m.

[lesliegrace]

I live in Southeast Texas; most of the time in the hottest part of the summer, the weathercasters talk about the heat index. I'm not exactly sure how they figure this, but it seems to be related to the temperature and the humidity. For example, the high temperature for the day may be 94 degrees, but with high humidity (90+%), the heat index may be 104 or 106.

To my liberal arts sort of mind, this seems like the opposite of the wind chill factor that we sometimes hear about in the winter.

[Trainwreck20]

the weathercasters talk about the heat index. I'm not exactly sure how they figure this, but it seems to be related to the temperature and the humidity.

On a dry day, sweat is wicked away so fast you don't even know you are sweating. With the higher humidity, the sweat evaporates much slower, lowering the efficiency of your body's cooling system. We once had to call off a basketball game in Freeport 'cause the ball was dripping wet after about 5 minutes .

Btw, the forecasters don't actually calculate in wind speed (like they should for a true heat index). Kind of like combining the wind chill and humidity factors (although 'wind chill' in hot areas cools you by a totally different mechanism).

[TheHarvester]

To get an accurate reading of how weather feels, you need temperature, pressure, air density, air movement (wind), dewpoint (how much water is in the air), particulate readings, cloud cover, and a number of other factors. That's why people experience the same stats completely differently. Houston is horrific compared to Austin largely because the air tends to be more stagnant, more "trapped" in H-town. In Austin it's frequently quite windy with lots of lift creating clear skies at ground level and beautiful clouds higher up.

But Austin has many humid hot days and they can be heinous, especially if you're stuck in traffic in the sun, or when you first get up and there's no wind and the humidity is close to 100%. I've seen many dewpoint maps on the Weather Channel showing the highest dewpoints in south Texas, Louisiana and parts of Florida.

But here's another factor --- plants and ambient humidity! This is something you will NEVER hear about in a weather report. Consider how they take official readings of temperature and dewpoint: usually at airports! What do airports have in common? Lots of pavement and free-flowing air with no plant life!

I've gone hiking in Vermont in the forest in 80 degree weather and it felt like Austin feels at 95 degrees. The humidity in the still, damp air of a forest is much higher than what they're telling you from the airport. I'd love to do some measurements to prove this someday. It's well known in the midwest corn belt. There are days when the dewpoint tops 80 degrees in eastern Nebraska because of the still hot air and the rapid-growing corn which pumps out huge amounts of water. A dewpoint over 60 is "humid", over 70 is tropical-feeling, and over 80 is unimaginable.

The highest dewpoint ever recorded was 93 degrees, in Dubai. The world's rich and famous are snapping up land in Dubai.

There, more than anyone asked about weather and humidity.

And for anyone who thinks Sacramento is as humid as Washington, DC, I've got a bridge to sell you...