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Old 10-09-2016, 12:30 PM
 
1,091 posts, read 1,067,398 times
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Thanks for all the replies, they were very helpful! :-)

In that case, Houston is looking like a big possibility for us to move to, over DFW. I know that come wintertime we will be glad we are in Houston and not DFW; We will just have to put up with the heat and humidity in the summertime! But, as long as we have a pool or A/C nearby, it should be all good!

I'll research school districts in the west Houston/Katy/Cypress area. I am looking to become a school counselor, but the TEA states that I need to teach two years in a Texas school district first, and from what I've heard, districts outside Houston are often nicer. This would tie in well with trying to get to places which are (slightly) less humid. However, I also know that being a newly certified teacher, I won't be able to get into the tippy top schools, but I'm hoping to still get in with a decent district.

Thanks again!
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Old 10-10-2016, 09:57 AM
 
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I've done multiple summers in all 3 cities.


Austin and Dallas are almost the same. Temps of 105/110 not uncommon.
Houston is the most "mild" - when temps hit 100, people actually react.
Mosquitoes are worst in Dallas, then Houston, then Austin.
Houston is MUCH more humid -- the humidity in Austin/Dallas felt the same to me.
The winter in Houston is milder than Austin, which is milder than Dallas.


They are similar, but what I think you'll notice in Houston is the humidity is higher and the temps are slightly lower. If you can survive one, you can survive any of them.
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Old 10-10-2016, 02:00 PM
 
Location: Austin, TX
1,280 posts, read 4,272,715 times
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I will have to echo that ALL of Texas is hotter than satan's balls in the summer. There is literally no place in Texas that is nice on an August afternoon. What you have to determine is whether or not you can handle the humidity and higher dew points. In fact, this summer in Austin was abnormally humid, so it was probably a good test for you. There were days when our humidity/dew point readings were not much lower than Houston's, which is very different from the norm. So, you've kind of had a test run already.

Now, I will say this: I grew up near Beaumont which has the same climate as Houston. I personally found the humidity unbearable in that area of the state, and now that I've been in Austin for a long time I really can't handle the SETX climate at all anymore. The temperature will drop after the sun goes down, but the humidity is inescapable. You are drenched all the time, and your sweat doesn't evaporate, so you just cannot cool down when you're outside. It's dangerous really. And indoors, it is maybe better than Austin due to lower radiant heat, but the air is still thick unless you have a powerful A/C system that can remove the humidity from the air. In that case, I find Houston to be a little easier on the power bill due to having more cloud cover and less radiant heat in buildings. But outside... it's terrible. You literally sweat just as much at 3:00 a.m. as you do at 3:00 p.m. There is no difference between the sun and the shade. In Austin (during a typical summer) you can generally be comfortable in the morning or evenings outside, and if you get in the shade and stay still you can cool off. This isn't really possible in Houston unless a storm blows in and cools things off a bit (and this is something that rarely happens in Austin during the summer).
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Old 10-10-2016, 02:24 PM
 
34,620 posts, read 21,439,628 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jread View Post
I will have to echo that ALL of Texas is hotter than satan's balls in the summer. There is literally no place in Texas that is nice on an August afternoon. What you have to determine is whether or not you can handle the humidity and higher dew points. In fact, this summer in Austin was abnormally humid, so it was probably a good test for you. There were days when our humidity/dew point readings were not much lower than Houston's, which is very different from the norm. So, you've kind of had a test run already.

Now, I will say this: I grew up near Beaumont which has the same climate as Houston. I personally found the humidity unbearable in that area of the state, and now that I've been in Austin for a long time I really can't handle the SETX climate at all anymore. The temperature will drop after the sun goes down, but the humidity is inescapable. You are drenched all the time, and your sweat doesn't evaporate, so you just cannot cool down when you're outside. It's dangerous really. And indoors, it is maybe better than Austin due to lower radiant heat, but the air is still thick unless you have a powerful A/C system that can remove the humidity from the air. In that case, I find Houston to be a little easier on the power bill due to having more cloud cover and less radiant heat in buildings. But outside... it's terrible. You literally sweat just as much at 3:00 a.m. as you do at 3:00 p.m. There is no difference between the sun and the shade. In Austin (during a typical summer) you can generally be comfortable in the morning or evenings outside, and if you get in the shade and stay still you can cool off. This isn't really possible in Houston unless a storm blows in and cools things off a bit (and this is something that rarely happens in Austin during the summer).
It's nice out on a Doomswell board behind the boat in August, as well as Nivember and March.
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Old 10-10-2016, 08:12 PM
 
1,091 posts, read 1,067,398 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PinkLadyK View Post
I've done multiple summers in all 3 cities.


Austin and Dallas are almost the same. Temps of 105/110 not uncommon.
Houston is the most "mild" - when temps hit 100, people actually react.
Mosquitoes are worst in Dallas, then Houston, then Austin.
Houston is MUCH more humid -- the humidity in Austin/Dallas felt the same to me.
The winter in Houston is milder than Austin, which is milder than Dallas.


They are similar, but what I think you'll notice in Houston is the humidity is higher and the temps are slightly lower. If you can survive one, you can survive any of them.
Thanks Pink Lady! I can tolerate the summer heat here in TX, but I get a bit uncomfortable in high humidity. Maybe it's something I/we can get used to? We don't plan on buying a house for a number of years, so if nothing else we could rent for a year in Houston and see if it's too humid or not for us. If we can survive a summer in Houston, then it should be smooth sailing from there forward for us in Houston!
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Old 10-10-2016, 08:19 PM
 
1,091 posts, read 1,067,398 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jread View Post
I will have to echo that ALL of Texas is hotter than satan's balls in the summer. There is literally no place in Texas that is nice on an August afternoon. What you have to determine is whether or not you can handle the humidity and higher dew points. In fact, this summer in Austin was abnormally humid, so it was probably a good test for you. There were days when our humidity/dew point readings were not much lower than Houston's, which is very different from the norm. So, you've kind of had a test run already.

Now, I will say this: I grew up near Beaumont which has the same climate as Houston. I personally found the humidity unbearable in that area of the state, and now that I've been in Austin for a long time I really can't handle the SETX climate at all anymore. The temperature will drop after the sun goes down, but the humidity is inescapable. You are drenched all the time, and your sweat doesn't evaporate, so you just cannot cool down when you're outside. It's dangerous really. And indoors, it is maybe better than Austin due to lower radiant heat, but the air is still thick unless you have a powerful A/C system that can remove the humidity from the air. In that case, I find Houston to be a little easier on the power bill due to having more cloud cover and less radiant heat in buildings. But outside... it's terrible. You literally sweat just as much at 3:00 a.m. as you do at 3:00 p.m. There is no difference between the sun and the shade. In Austin (during a typical summer) you can generally be comfortable in the morning or evenings outside, and if you get in the shade and stay still you can cool off. This isn't really possible in Houston unless a storm blows in and cools things off a bit (and this is something that rarely happens in Austin during the summer).
Eek! Yeah, that reminds me of when I lived in Nola. I noticed it was hot and humid around-the-clock, but granted that was before I had ever lived in TX and was coming from CO (A Denver summer vs a Nola summer are two different worlds, lol). I think we'll aim for living in the NW Houston area (not sure if that would "move the needle" in terms of less humidity or not) and if we are unhappy for a summer there, we'll consider moving to DFW after our lease ends. However, I know that come wintertime we'll be feelin' good. But, again, agree with you that summers in TX ain't fun, unless you're at the pool or in an air-conditioned place. I used to live/teach in Saigon/HCMC, Vietnam, so I'm thinking summers in Houston won't be too far off weather-wise.
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Old 10-10-2016, 09:49 PM
 
Location: Houston
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I agree with another poster that while the humid heat is certainly unpleasant, the mosquitoes are what can really ruin summer. They can make it extremely difficult to be outside here, in many parts of the area.
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Old 10-10-2016, 11:21 PM
 
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Originally Posted by LocalPlanner View Post
I agree with another poster that while the humid heat is certainly unpleasant, the mosquitoes are what can really ruin summer. They can make it extremely difficult to be outside here, in many parts of the area.
Agreed! I definitely got my share of mosquito bites in ATX, so I can relate to it not being outside when mosquitoes are around . In addition, I had to be careful of fire ants when I was outdoors. But, I'll remember to spray myself down with mosquito spray before I go out in summer.
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Old 10-11-2016, 07:13 AM
 
Location: OC
12,734 posts, read 9,363,481 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack Lance View Post
And here is the full ranking of all 361 metro areas by the Sperling Heat Index.

Rank Metro name Population Heat Index
1 Yuma, AZ 195,751 99.9
2 El Centro, CA 174,528 99.5
3 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 4,192,887 97.7
4 Laredo, TX 250,304 96.1
5 McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX 774,769 95.0
6 Las Vegas-Paradise, NV 1,951,269 94.4
7 Brownsville-Harlingen, TX 406,220 94.1
8 Corpus Christi, TX 428,185 93.6
9 Victoria, TX 115,384 93.2
10 Waco, TX 234,906 93.0
11 College Station-Bryan, TX 228,660 92.9
12 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 6,371,773 92.4
13 Wichita Falls, TX 151,306 92.4
14 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX 5,946,800 92.3
15 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL 618,754 92.2
16 Austin-Round Rock, TX1, 716,289 92.2
17 San Antonio, TX 2,142,508 92.1

There is virtually no difference in the overall heat index (Misery index) of the two metros...

Sizzling Cities ranked – our new Heat Index – Bert Sperling – searching for the Best Places
Surprised CC is that high up there. Austin felt hotter. Either way, it's Texas, it'll be hot.
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Old 10-11-2016, 09:24 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
1,280 posts, read 4,272,715 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Denver303TJC View Post
I used to live/teach in Saigon/HCMC, Vietnam, so I'm thinking summers in Houston won't be too far off weather-wise.
Yes, I've often heard Houston compared to Southeast Asian cities.

Houston has a very humid climate, but it is also much milder than the rest of TX due to being heavily moderated by the Gulf. There is typically just a 10-degree difference between day and nighttime temperatures, and year-round it is a lot more constant. You don't have the wild temperature swings all the time like Austin and (especially) Dallas can get with a front comes barreling down on us. I guess that what I'm saying is that in Houston it is a lot easier to know what to expect every day.
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