Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm a 43 snowbird self-employed and I live in Seattle and I'm looking for a place to live Nov-April. I have lived in San Diego so I know what the winter weather is like there. How does Austin & Phoenix winter weather compare? Sometimes just getting the averages on weather.com doesn't tell the whole story. Be great to get someones thoughts who has lived all 3 places, or even 3 out of the 3.
San Diego has the warmest winters out of the 3. Just barely, but it does. Phoenix has colder nights especially, since it is far from the ocean. Same goes for Austin.
I've lived in all three, or within 100 miles of all three. San Diego, as you know, generally has superlative weather to most places in this Hemisphere. That being said, Austin indeed does get some "cold snaps" and a handful of freezes a year, and come April, you will be in the 80s with increasing humidity. As referenced, Phoenix can get colder than you think at night, and by April is in the high 80s. Both are great winter destinations, but are really not in the same league as Southern California for winter weather.
I have heard others say Phoenix has nicer winters then San Diego. I lived in San Diego for 7 years, and of course the winter is incredibly nice compared to most of the U.S., but not as warm as many think. It can get into the low 40's and high 30's (inland SD) night time lows in San Diego. San Diego also gets about 95% of it's rain for the entire year all in 4 months, Dec-March. So it rains more then most people think in winter and has a fair amount of overcast. I have heard Phoenix has more sunshine Dec-March than SD. From what I've been reading, Austin would come in 3rd place for winter weather out of the 3.
Also if you just isolate Dec-March, I think South Florida has better weather than San Diego for those 4 months. The other 8 months I think San Diego has better weather.
Phoenix is sunnier than San Diego in winter (San Diego is only in the 60sF and rainy in winter) but is still cooler. San Diego also has plenty of sunny winter days and Phoenix still gets winter rains.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
