Bugs, rainfall, humidity...oh my! (Houston, Austin: real estate, living, moving to)

[maverck11]

Ok, I don't know so I am asking the experts who live here in the Austin area. My family (wife and two little girls) are moving to Austin, probably S.W. Austin, RR or Georgetown. We have read a lot of information, talked to real estate agents and a couple of people we know from the area and here that there are a lot of bugs, rainfall and that the humity is crazy wet! Can anyone give me your opinion of these topics and what you believe to be the truth. We are used to about 30 inches of rainfall a year but over four or five months and we read that Austin has 275 days of sun meaning you must get a lot of rainfall when it does rain? Also have read the closer to the lakes you live the more bugs you are going to have? And that the humity is pretty bad compared to a "dry heat"? Please help me! And thank you in advance.

[Trainwreck20]

There are a couple of huge threads on bugs, so I won't go into that. I wouldn't think there would be an appreciable difference closer to the lakes (there are ponds and streams all over, so plenty of water everywhere).

The rain does tend to come down in big storms. A couple inches in an hour are common, as are 5 or 6 inches in a day. There are sometimes extreme rainfall events where there are 5 or 6 inches in an hour and 18+ inches in a day, but they are rare, and the really eye-popping numbers are generally pretty localized...the 18 inch reading will often be surrounded by 8-12 inche rainfall areas within a couple miles. Conversely, long days/weeks of drizzle are rare, but occasionally occur in the 'winter'.

The humidity is actually pretty moderate, maybe staying in the 60-70 percent range during humid periods, with spikes above that. Last summer was unusually humid. Coastal Texas is much more humid (80-90% is common). Of course, it is nothing like CO or NM (5-10% for long periods of time).

[Moonlady]

Where are you coming from? It's a heck of a lot more humid than Arizona but less humid than Florida, most East Coast states and even Houston and areas along the Gulf in Texas. I've lived in Virginia, Florida and Texas and to me, the humidity is just right.

The annual rainfall here is about 39 inches I think and Trainwreck is right, it tends to come in big downpours as opposed to a place like Seattle where it rains a lot of the time, but the rainfall totals are low. Last summer was the second wettest on record, so don't judge by that. It was very unusual. Most times by July, you'll be begging for rainfall!

Also as Trainwreck said, you can search for bugs - there have been prior discussions, but I have never particularly thought there were more bugs here that anywhere else I've been and in some cases, less.

[TexasHorseLady]

As the weatherman said in one of his weather reports: "Drought, flood. Drought, flood. Drought, flood. In other words, typical Central Texas weather."

It can be humid, but not so much that you don't adjust - and it can be very dry, as well. And that's pretty much it.

Yes, there are bugs - what kind did you want? But, then, I've never lived anywhere that didn't have bugs, just different kinds. (I suspect if bugs couldn't live somewhere, we might have some issues living there, too.)