Questions About Huntsville?? (Montgomery, Dothan: to live, garden, move to)

[sharingsunshine]

We're considering a move to Huntsville from Central VA. We lived in the Montgomery area for 18 years and it never cooled off at night. At 2 AM you could open the door and have a steam bath. Wondering if Huntsville is different since it's surrounded by mountains?

I notice the average temps on the weather site, but sometimes humidity makes it a lot different than it looks there.

Since August is a hot month ... what are the nights and mornings like right now? Also, the winters seem to be a lot harsher than in Montgomery on weather records. Do you get snow?

Would there be different temperatures based on where one chooses to live since the elevations look like they could be varied in your city. We visited there once for the space center when our son was about 7 (just turned 29) so I really don't remember much about it.

Looking for a place with shorter winters due to health issues, but need a forested area since I can't be in the sun. It seems that Huntsville has a lot of nature preserves and parks. That's my passion - woodland walking.

Are there housing developments that have an acre or more of land? We like having neighbors, but also love to garden for wildlife (hummingbirds, butterflies, birds, bees, etc.). Seems like I remember somebody mentioning years back that Huntsville had a lot of folks who liked to garden?

I would love to have comments on any natural areas you've visited and what you like about them.

Donna

[Charles]

Climate is what to expect; Weather is what you get.

Looks like Montgomery is hotter

(images not protected by copyright)



and more humid



If these images die, go to City Climate Comparisons and run the data.

[BKOTH97]

Originally Posted by sharingsunshine

Seems like I remember somebody mentioning years back that Huntsville had a lot of folks who liked to garden?

I would love to have comments on any natural areas you've visited and what you like about them.

Donna

Huntsville has an abundance of Natural Areas and is winning awards for being a "Green" City. The Huntsville Botanical Garden is a great place to start. They have Master Gardners who continually give talks there and you can get involved as you want to in the gardening that goes on around there. They rely almost 100% on volunteers (but it is an excellent facility). We are members and visit probably 5 or 6 times a year depending on what is going on.

Monte Sano and Burritt on the Mountain sound like they might be right up your alley. Rainbow Mountain also has some good trails.

Best of Luck!

[ionlife]

Charles--where do you find the time to get all this cool info? You must be a computer whiz or genius--or is my theory correct? When the DH goes to work, he's really just playing on the internet forums?? Haha--and now back to work for me

[sharingsunshine]

I like the sound of "green" city - fits well :-) I had noticed the gardens. They look VERY nice. My husband is a Master Gardener so we always look for places that have options for volunteering.

Thanks for the weather charts, Charles. Are the evenings and mornings cool in summer?

Donna

[Charles]

Originally Posted by sharingsunshine

I like the sound of "green" city - fits well :-) I had noticed the gardens. They look VERY nice. My husband is a Master Gardener so we always look for places that have options for volunteering.

Thanks for the weather charts, Charles. Are the evenings and mornings cool in summer?

Donna

I've only lived here one week. We'll have to read what others write. However, one way of getting some information on that question is to check out Welcome to Weather Underground : Weather Underground because that site has historical data including low temperatures. You can pull a year's worth of data at a time. So, if you see the low temperatures averaging 75 degrees then that sounds kind of warm. But if you see average lows around 55, then yes, it would seem that there were cool evenings and mornings.

[southern by choice]

I read your post, and all I can tell you is, the weather is SO MUCH BETTER here than SE Alabama. We lived in the Wiregrass area for years, my God, steam bath is right. We had an inground pool and couldnt even go outside to use the darn thing. The weather down there is atrocious. When people here complain about the heat, my husband and I just smile...because it doesnt compare. Also, weve lived in the DC area, and summers there are hotter than Hades. I think youll love the climate here compared to Montgomery....theres also a distinct change of seasons, whereas when we lived in the Dothan area, we were so close to Florida we didnt have a fall, or spring, really.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by southern by choice

Also, weve lived in the DC area, and summers there are hotter than Hades.

[sharingsunshine]

I had checked out the temps on weather.com, but I know the lows in Montgomery look good for summer months, but the humidity is so high it's a steam bath regardless of temps. So, glad to hear from Southern By Choice.

Been finding more info on this forum also that was previously posted. Would like to make a trip down there end of month to check out housing or land. Does anybody know of a green builder they could recommend?

[southern by choice]

Well, I see your chart there, Charles, but Ive heard many who agree, metro Va/DC is unbearably hot.