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San Antone has a humid subtropical climate not a semi-arid one,OP.
San Antonio definitely felt humid most of the time, but the first day felt like a dry oven. San Antonio is in the middle of the line that divides the arid and humid parts of the US.
Wait, Pennsylvania reminds you of West Coast scenery?
Yes it's unbelievable. I have driven through eastern PA typically through the places that New Jerseyans drive through like roads to get to Lancaster and to the Poconos and I thought the scenery feels a bit West Coast like. Reminds me of the greenery you see in Half Moon Bay in the Bay Area. PA has beautiful flower scenery that NJ doesn't offer. PA has many grand views that are not bland, while NJ was too wooded with generic trees in some areas and you would fall asleep driving through rural roads of NJ. I thought PA was the most beautiful state like Washington State. Vermont was beautiful and looked like Pacific Northwest scenery.
San Antonio definitely felt humid most of the time, but the first day felt like a dry oven. San Antonio is in the middle of the line that divides the arid and humid parts of the US.
ya your right that San Antone is in a transition zone between the wet and dry climates of the US but you have to go further West of the city to hit a true semi-arid climate zone.San Antone felt humid to me everytime ive been there.
Much of what we feel as 'intense sun' and glare can be measured by the UV rating which does not necessarily correlate to the actual temperature outside.
Where I live the UV levels are extremely high and of course humidity and cloud cover have a role in the intensity of the climate...of which, we have none like the Bay Area has at least. I am at a high elevation as well, which is associated with higher UV.
UV over-exposure can actually cause a sickness in some of us and even trigger auto-immune conditions.
I am blonde/fair/blue and have to wear super sun-block, hats and avoid outdoor sports activity between 11am - 4pm when the sun UV is most intense. Sometimes I think I might have to move from my native Nevada to a more cloudy locale with less intense UV eventually as I am more sensitive as I age.
Here is a website where you can input a zip or location to find the UV ratings for your area by time of day or search average UV levels for other locations you may be more comfortable living in. The 'contour map' is very telling as well, you can get a good idea of less intense areas of the country.
Thanks for sending me the link. I didn't know that weather.gov was even a thing, but I like how they update the pictures of the UV forecast every day. Now I realize why I hate the California sunshine. I put my zip code in and seeing that the UV is 9 today is the reason why my car would get super hot. I put my NJ zip code and the UV is 4 over there. Now I am missing being out East after seeing how much weaker the sun is over there.
East Texas is green and humid while West Texas is a desert. I went to San Antonio, which is a semi-arid climate and it was not bad. The dry heat was like an oven, and humid heat was mostly fine there, because it did not feel that humid and the sun was not too humid. Wouldn't live in any of the states you mentioned, because AZ is too hot and none of the other states have beautiful scenery.
I was actually surprised you mentioned Iowa. I don't understand how the Iowa sunshine can be intense, because that's the Midwest. The brightest sun I have experienced is in Italy the secondly Greece. I couldn't wait to come home to humid NJ after feeling the sun in those countries. Italy made my skin feel like the same greasiness I get in the Bay Area.
The reason Iowa was bright is because the sun reflected off the yellow corn stalks in the fields. It was blindingly bright. When those same fields are plowed or are full of green corn they don't reflect the sun like that.
Thanks for sending me the link. I didn't know that weather.gov was even a thing, but I like how they update the pictures of the UV forecast every day. Now I realize why I hate the California sunshine. I put my zip code in and seeing that the UV is 9 today is the reason why my car would get super hot. I put my NJ zip code and the UV is 4 over there. Now I am missing being out East after seeing how much weaker the sun is over there.
This is an interesting chart. The Pacific Northwest definitely seems like it would fit your needs. The average UV index is 0-2 for nearly half the year and it tops out at 5 in July/August. It'll likely be similar to what you're used to in New Jersey since most of NJ is in the same band.
Thanks for sending me the link. I didn't know that weather.gov was even a thing, but I like how they update the pictures of the UV forecast every day. Now I realize why I hate the California sunshine. I put my zip code in and seeing that the UV is 9 today is the reason why my car would get super hot. I put my NJ zip code and the UV is 4 over there. Now I am missing being out East after seeing how much weaker the sun is over there.
Yes, the charts and maps really are a great resource.
I was surprised to see that the Bay Area is the same UV as Northern Nevada much of the time because it feels more moderate to me on the coast...well you have the fog and rain to help offset the sun more anyway...I do have a hard time with the heat+humidity, definitely get a sticky, hard-to-breath feeling in that environment.
Now many people can have the opposite problem with the low UV/cloudy weather of the Northwest and East Coast, it makes them unhappy and gloomy....so it is good information to keep in mind! It seems many people have a hard time with the gloomy winters in Northern ID and Montana after moving there from more sunny locales...
I remember a road trip to Vancouver BC where I did not see the sun for the entire 2 weeks until we came back to Nevada! It was a little depressing after awhile....although the coastal areas up there are so beautiful and green
North of Spokane WA
Upper panhandle of Idaho
The Oregon and Washington coastlines
Many Oregon towns in the Willamette Valley near the east slopes of the Coast Range, i.e. Forest Grove, McMinnville, Philomath.
Most areas on the NE slopes of Mts or MT ranges. You get the morning sun, but are in the mountains shadow, to some degree, from late afternoon into the evening, so missing the most intense sun of the day.
OP, will you need work, school, access to specialty health care, are you retired, rich, etc.? Your situational needs will drive your fit in many communities.
That is a very valid point about eastern slopes of mountain ranges...I live on the east side of the Sierra Nevada, my city is very close to the high peaks and the climate is much more tolerable for me than a mere 30 miles east in the high-desert valleys without the high mountains to block early and late sun. I actually felt sick when camping out in the open in a valley by the early evening and felt over-heated even though the temperature was only in the low 70's.
When I worked in a nearby valley on dude ranches in my teens, I often felt sun-sick after a long day on the trail, whereas I do not have so much trouble near the mountains where I live...good to think about if you are looking to relocate! The coastal communities of S CA definitely have those long and very beautiful sunsets that I miss here, but yes...a lot more time to cast glare in the evening.
There definitely are micro-climates in each locale as well....
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