How hot and humid is the Greenville, Columbia, SC areas?? (Aiken: military, job)

[Tony1790]

Hello,

I live in WA state, I just retired from the military, I'm considering a move to Columbia or Greenville, SC area to be near family. My biggest concern is the heat and humidity, what is the average temp and humitidy levels? Here in WA I've never had air conditioning, and it's not very humid.

Thanks for any replies.

Tony

[paullySC]

Originally Posted by Tony1790

Hello,

I live in WA state, I just retired from the military, I'm considering a move to Columbia or Greenville, SC area to be near family. My biggest concern is the heat and humidity, what is the average temp and humitidy levels? Here in WA I've never had air conditioning, and it's not very humid.

Thanks for any replies.

Tony

I live near Greenville and it gets pretty humid and pretty hot. You def. need air conditioning during the summer. The humiditiy doesn't seem much different from the northeast but it gets quite hot during the summer. Columbia is hotter than greenville.

[tnt]

I came from Spokane, Wa., yes, it's much different. But not as bad as some areas of the upstate, or midlands, or Georgia. The mountains keep us a tad less humid, and the breezes they give. July and August are pretty humid, or when it's rainy. Temps drop 10 to 15 degrees as soon as a nice t-storm does come through though.

[tony123]

I came from New Orleans, so it feels like heavan in Greenville to me. People talk of the heat and humidity and it is laughable. It's all a matter of perspective.

[anonymous]

It's not as hot as New Orleans, but you're going to need air conditioning. It gets hot in Columbia. Columbia's average daytime high in July is 92 degrees; when you factor in the relative humidity, it is common for the heat index to be between 90-100, and at times, it will go as high as 110. I don't know about Greenville, I don't think it gets as hot there. I'm not sure what the numbers are though.

I've tried looking up heat index records, averages, etc., but I can't seem to find anything. Just looking at temperature doesn't really tell the big picture.

[friendnc]

It can get pretty warm in the Greenville area, but it's not bad (like one poster said, different people see it differently). It gets humid, but it's not oppressive. Columbia, on the other hand, doesn't have the elevation of Greenville and is a lot closer to the ocean, so the tempetures and humidity will be a good bit higher. My vote would be for Greenville!

[Tony1790]

Thanks everybody,

I was thinking Columbia due to Ft Jackson being there, Greenville sounds cooler than Columbia so far. Are there any area's of Western South Carolina that isn't oppressively hot? I know it's relative to what you are used to, I'm coming from a not so hot area of the country.

Thanks again for your insight, it's most helpful

Tony in WA

[tnt]

western S.C being midcountry/midlands? not really. Augusta,Ga through Aiken, S.C to Columbia, up to Greenwoold/Abbeville is just as bad. The northwest part of the state/upstate like Keowee, Seneca, Clemson is a tad cooler. 5 to 10 degrees at most.
here's our local climate info:
http://www.weather.gov/climate/index.php?wfo=gsp

[bktx1]

if you want to escape humidity. I lived there for 3 years, and thought I loved the place in general, the summers were horrible. By the time I walked from my car to my front door in the evening, I would be dripping.

It's great from Oct to April, though. I have so many fond memories of Colombia.

[tony123]

When in New Orleans, you would time it so that you checked your mail before your shower to keep from getting all sweaty again......LOL

In Greenville, there are a total of about 4 weeks of the year that get into what I call HOT. Then, there are about 6 weeks total of what I would consider COLD. This is if you added all the HOT and COLD days together. Outside of that, the weather is about as mild as you're going to find outside of southern California.

In Greenville, even during the 4 weeks of HOT, you can drive an hour into the mountains and find very pleasant weather.

We can comfortably eat outside on the porch for about 7 months of the year, and can go "windows open" for about 6 months of the year.

I interviewed for my job at the end of August in 1999. All of the restaurants on main street had people eating out on the sidewalk. You're not going to find that in the deep south.

I'm going to ruffle some feathers here......but, IMHO Greenville and Columbia are not in the same league from a weather, activity and beauty standpoint. It is a no-brainer for me.