Calling all transplanted Californians, Arizonans, and Floridians! Talk to me about winter in DFW. (Dallas: transplants, job market)

[ZonaZoo]

For those of you who moved to DFW from California, Arizona, or Florida, I would really like to hear your opinions about winter in the Metroplex.

Do you feel as though winters in DFW are unbearably cold, or are they tolerable?

If you hate cold weather and all of the other nuisances that accompany winter, will you be miserable in DFW?

Would you recommend the DFW area to a family member or friend who hates winter and cold weather? Last night, I came across an old post on CD in which the poster explained that DFW is not the place to move to if you can't stand winter. I'm just wondering if this is true or not.

Based on weather.com, it seems like the average wintertime temperatures in Dallas are a lot colder than in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Tucson, etc. Yikes!

I moved to Tucson from South Florida last summer, and I was freezing my behind off this past winter! I don't really want to deal with winters that much colder than Tucson winters, but I keep hearing so many wonderful things about DFW! I want to make it work! LOL. Furthermore, I'm graduating from the University of Arizona next spring with a degree in Business Management, and I keep hearing that Dallas is a great place for business majors to secure entry-level positions. As an aside, I'm currently undecided about whether or not I'd like to go to graduate school immediately after undergrad.

Cold winters are usually a deal-breaker for me. I lived through 17 or 18 New England winters, so I've done my time! LOL. I'm just hoping DFW transplants from warmer locales will reassure me that winters in the Metroplex aren't as cold as internet data makes them seem (at least to me)! Thanks in advance!

[Willsson]

ZonaZoo, about that cold weather. Being from Texas I typically like to have an open window, sometimes slightly open, sometimes wide open. So, a few summers ago I took a trip to San Diego to visit some friends. My room was on a hill side and faced west. Before lights out I opened the window. The weather had been so nice that day I opened the window WIDE. Oh yeah, the room had no blankets. Woke up about 3 a.m. freezing my butt.

About the cold. Well, the cold I woke up to that early a.m. is about like the cold of a Dallas winter. Some nights colder than others. With a few days of freeze. Some days just downright hot.

There can be a rain and hard freeze over night and that freeze gone by end of afternoon. Nothing like a New England winter, on any given day. Absolutely NOTHING.

[ChristieP]

We do occasionally have a hard winter. 2011 had record snowfall and cold temperatures in DFW. But it's not the norm, and its nowhere close to New England. Most of our winters will have a couple of icy or snowy days and maybe a few weeks of cold days.

[TrueDat]

Compared to South Florida and Southern California, a Dallas winter will seem cold for at least a few days in January or February. Though it doesn't happen every year, it sometimes gets cold enough to snow or worse there's freezing rain that turns to black ice. As said previously, the winter of 2011 was a bad one, with a foot of snow during that Super Bowl Week.

But that's not the norm. For the most part, Dallas winters are tolerable and often outright pleasant. if it snows at all, it's an inch or two. Nothing like New England but if you don't want the chance of any snow/ice at all, maybe San Diego or Miami would be more appealing.

[ZonaZoo]

I should've probably mentioned this in my original post.

On February 20th, it snowed in Tucson. I live at 2500 ft., so there was some accumulation in my neighborhood. Although the the snow didn't stick around in my neighborhood as long as it did at higher elevations, I was completely over and done with Tucson at that point.

I never wanted to move back to FL so badly as I did on this past Feb. 20th.

[ChristieP]

If you want to live somewhere where it NEVER snows, then you need to look at South Florida, Southern California, and the far south part of Texas that's called the Rio Grande Valley. DFW will not meet your needs.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by ZonaZoo

I should've probably mentioned this in my original post.

On February 20th, it snowed in Tucson. I live at 2500 ft., so there was some accumulation in my neighborhood. Although the the snow didn't stick around in my neighborhood as long as it did at higher elevations, I was completely over and done with Tucson at that point.

I never wanted to move back to FL so badly as I did on this past Feb. 20th.

Dallas is NOT for you. It consistently snows (from trace to a few inches) each winter and we also have crippling ice storms (ie, school and work are cancelled, roads undrivable) 1-3 X each winter. The winter temperatures bounce around daily from high's in the 30's-60's with some rare days in the 70-80's. The January and Feb daily high's are in the 40-50's, with lows on average around freezing.

You need to limit your search to tropical climates only, based on the info you've provided. Unfortunately, most of those areas in the US are beastly expensive (Miami, LA, Hawaii) or not where the growing economies are for good business job options (Gulf Coast, The Valley in TX, etc) Good luck.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by ZonaZoo

I should've probably mentioned this in my original post.

On February 20th, it snowed in Tucson. I live at 2500 ft., so there was some accumulation in my neighborhood. Although the the snow didn't stick around in my neighborhood as long as it did at higher elevations, I was completely over and done with Tucson at that point.

I never wanted to move back to FL so badly as I did on this past Feb. 20th.

I'm a native West Texan and have spent 4 months in Arizona (Tucson/Pheonix) and have recently moved to Dallas. Anyhow, I found switching to Dallas to be very tolerable. The summers are cooler here than summers in West Texas/Tucson/Phoenix but the humidity makes up the deference. The winters can be cool but oddly enough, I recall colder and more snow/ice back in West Texas if you can believe that.

Anyways, I absolutely enjoyed my time in Tucson but tempature wise, I would prefer Dallas. If I had to choose between Florida, Texas, and Arizona, I would choose Florida.

[ZonaZoo]

To be honest, I probably shouldn't have mentioned in my original post that I was born and raised in New England because I don't want to compare Dallas winters to New England winters; I would rather compare Dallas winters to those in Southern CA, AZ, and/or FL. I can handle cold, snowy, icy winters because I'm from New England, but I don't ever want to deal with winters where freezing temperatures, snow, and ice are guaranteed occurrences.

CA is prohibitively expensive, and since I'm relatively frugal and fiscally conservative, it has never really been on my radar. Also, I would like to begin building a nest egg immediately after entering the workforce and, to my understanding, that would be difficult to do in CA. Moreover, I'm socially conservative, so aside from Orange County and maybe San Diego, I feel as though, at the end of the day, CA wouldn't be a good fit for me.

Tucson is a terrible place to live if you're not a college student or retiree, and I plan on leaving the day after I graduate from the University of Arizona. To be honest, I don't really want to live in Phoenix either because, like Tucson, it's too far from the ocean and a little too chilly in the winter.

I grew up in RI and previously lived in FL, and I didn't realize how difficult it would be to live so far from the ocean until a few months after I moved to AZ. I know the ocean doesn't pay the bills or put food on the table, but I didn't realize how paramount being close to the ocean was to me until I moved far away from it.

Additionally, I didn't realize how well FL suited me until I moved to AZ. To be honest, I would move back to FL in a heartbeat, but I'm afraid it would be difficult seeing as how the job market in most FL cities is pretty lousy for educated professionals, especially those coming from out-of-state, compared to the major cities in TX. That's why I've been flirting with the idea of searching for jobs in Dallas in the next year or so.

[ZonaZoo]

Originally Posted by SVTRay

If I had to choose between Florida, Texas, and Arizona, I would choose Florida.

If you don't mind me asking, SVTRay, why is it you would choose Florida over Texas and Arizona?