Alright Austin folks: How bad is the heat really? (Houston: stats, garden)

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by ATX Wahine

That was a big shocker for me as well. I’m a native of San Francisco, used to cold foggy Julys. I thought I was prepared for Austin winters.

WRONG.

The bitter cold of winter here is bracing to me, still, after 14 years. I’ve come to the conclusion that overall I am an enormous weather wimp. I want 85 degrees and sun every day of the year. I blame it on being Hawaiian.

Yeah what is interesting is it can actually get just as cold here as it gets in Seattle WA during winter. Difference is we also get warmer days to make up for it, but we also get those merciless cold windy days.

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by Mcginty74

Let's talk good bad and ugly. I am possibly relocating to Austin area but the one thing that gives me pause is the heat. I am from Georgia so I grew up in a hot sunny climate, but I know Texas heat is on another level. My work requires me to work outside through the year, about an hour every week day.

Would love to hear from locals how truly awful the heat is there? Is it impossible to be outside during the daytime in the summer months? Do people stay inside for months of the year in the air conditioning?

What is the bad and the ugly in your experience with the heat in Austin?

I lived in Atlanta for five years. Austin is hotter, but not as humid so about the same on a comfort scale.

Austin is also much warmer during the winter and gets about half as much rain as Atlanta.

Most of us have learned to live with the heat and so we don't stay inside. I play golf every month of the year and just as much in July as I do in October.

[ym2m11]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

I wanted to curl up in a ball of frizzy curly hair and die this morning.

why what do you mean? the heat already is here now?

[ym2m11]

Originally Posted by ATX Wahine

That was a big shocker for me as well. I’m a native of San Francisco, used to cold foggy Julys. I thought I was prepared for Austin winters.

WRONG.

The bitter cold of winter here is bracing to me, still, after 14 years. I’ve come to the conclusion that overall I am an enormous weather wimp. I want 85 degrees and sun every day of the year. I blame it on being Hawaiian.

so I'm confused (not from Austin..) but I've heard it said Austin doesn't get a winter. Does it really get cold like this? I thought Dallas does but not in Austin

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by ym2m11

so I'm confused (not from Austin..) but I've heard it said Austin doesn't get a winter. Does it really get cold like this? I thought Dallas does but not in Austin

This winter was off the charts weird. It was record breaking cold. I have friends in Wisconsin (northern) and they were even telling me they would be miserable. Generally, though, we will have a stretch of a few 40 degree high days with one or two “snow” or “ice days” where we shut down. But, be prepared for complaining saying it wasn’t as bad as this winter.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

This winter wasn't really all that bad in Austin except for that spell with the deep freeze. Here it is the middle of May and it's seems alot cooler than most Mays in Austin. I had the heat on a few nights ago.

[karpo1]

After Dubai it is ok, even pools do not need cooling.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by ym2m11

so I'm confused (not from Austin..) but I've heard it said Austin doesn't get a winter. Does it really get cold like this? I thought Dallas does but not in Austin

It doesn’t get a traditional winter like seen in the Midwest and Northeast with consistent below freezing days and snow or the need for snow plows but it does get much cooler here than one would imagine for being so far south. Technically Austin is further south than Phoenix or Los Angeles but we get colder than both. We get our fair share of freezing precipitation and instances that we dip below freezing. Difference is it typically is only for a day or two then we’re back in the 40’s or low 50’s. Another thing is, after enduring a 100* summer, 50*F in relativity actually feels colder than it really is.

[Roadking2003]

Originally Posted by ym2m11

so I'm confused (not from Austin..) but I've heard it said Austin doesn't get a winter. Does it really get cold like this? I thought Dallas does but not in Austin

We get a winter, just not very many freezes. This year was the coldest in a century, but in some winters we get none or maybe one or two freezes.

[Austin123z]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

It doesn’t get a traditional winter like seen in the Midwest and Northeast with consistent below freezing days and snow or the need for snow plows but it does get much cooler here than one would imagine for being so far south. Technically Austin is further south than Phoenix or Los Angeles but we get colder than both. We get our fair share of freezing precipitation and instances that we dip below freezing. Difference is it typically is only for a day or two then we’re back in the 40’s or low 50’s. Another thing is, after enduring a 100* summer, 50*F in relativity actually feels colder than it really is.

Very valid point, makes both the summers and winters unbearable. Also, around 90 in the night time for more than a month or two, is terrible.