Thinking Of Moving To Odessa!!! (Houston, Dallas: neighborhoods, tornado, living) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

cowgirlruthie · 04-02-2008, 07:50 AM

Need some info please from anyone who has lived in Odessa or Midland. I am thinking of moving there but hearing about all of the Hail freaks me out a little. Please someone tell me about the weather there. And how severe it can be. Tornados, hail, drought,dust clouds etc. etc.
By the way I am from Ohio and we are moving because of the cold weather and the lack of jobs here.

Mike78613 · 04-02-2008, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cowgirlruthie

Need some info please from anyone who has lived in Odessa or Midland. I am thinking of moving there but hearing about all of the Hail freaks me out a little. Please someone tell me about the weather there. And how severe it can be. Tornados, hail, drought,dust clouds etc. etc.
By the way I am from Ohio and we are moving because of the cold weather and the lack of jobs here.

Have you ever seen the movie "Friday Night Lights"?

I hear since the BOOM of oil now, both Odessa and Midland are good for jobs. I am not crazy about West Texas.

Good luck!![/

Lucidus · 04-02-2008, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cowgirlruthie

Need some info please from anyone who has lived in Odessa or Midland. I am thinking of moving there but hearing about all of the Hail freaks me out a little. Please someone tell me about the weather there. And how severe it can be. Tornados, hail, drought,dust clouds etc. etc.
By the way I am from Ohio and we are moving because of the cold weather and the lack of jobs here.

Yes the hail can be bad, but no worse than anywhere else in the plains. As for tornadoes, I think the threat is overstated. They can and do occur but "tornado alley" is generally farther to the East where there is more humidity to power storms. Drought and dust are big problems. I would note with respect to drought that Odessa, in the time that I have lived here, has never had water rationing. Despite the dry conditions the city has done well in providing enough water. The area is generally dry with a few wet spells. This along with high winds can cause extreme wildfire danger which I would consider a bigger problem than tornadoes or hail. Be prepared for burn bans and fireworks restrictions.

Most of stormy weather occurs in the spring and autumn. For the most part the weather is warm and sunny. Summer days can be brutally hot but relief comes as the sun sets because of the dry air. Cold weather won't be a problem for someone from Ohio. There are only a few really cold days a year.

If you do move to Midland/Odessa, let me be first to welcome you.

slickblackvette · 04-02-2008, 07:25 PM

I grew up in Midland and the big thing about the weather there is how fast it changes. With that said I have seen more hail and tornadic weather in Dallas and Little Rock, AR than all my years in Midland. Not to say they don't get hail but it was less frequent than in my 10 years in Dallas. My parents still live there so I get to keep up with it too. During the spring it will be windy and in dry springs and summers you WILL get dust/sand storms. It is just part of living there. Spring storm lines can bring a line of dust in before the rain and we refered to that as raining Mud Balls. It gets hot in the summer but it cools down at night and you will have way more sunshine than cloudy weather for sure. As far as drought goes, it is also a part of living there but it doesn't seem to effect the towns nearly as much as drought does in the bigger cities of Texas. The average rainfall out there is about 14 to 17 inches per year so when it cuts of it can cut off for a while. Winter is probably warmer on average than Ohio for sure. You could get a little snow and ice which shuts things down but nothing like what the great lakes areas get. All in all folks are friendly, the Mexican food is awsome, and it is a good place to raise a family. Jobs and commerce are booming out there right now which is great. West Texas has a boom and bust history to it so hopefully this boom will hold on for a while. I certainly wouldn't fear the weather out there!

Cathy4017 · 04-02-2008, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slickblackvette

I grew up in Midland and the big thing about the weather there is how fast it changes.....It gets hot in the summer but it cools down at night. All in all folks are friendly, the Mexican food is awsome, and it is a good place to raise a family. Jobs and commerce are booming out there right now which is great. West Texas has a boom and bust history to it so hopefully this boom will hold on for a while. I certainly wouldn't fear the weather out there!

Well, for what it's worth, the nights used to cool off a LOT more than they do in Midland now. During the last 5 years or so, it was not unusual to have 80+ degree hot and humid nights during the summer. But it wasn't always like that!!

Yes, the Mexican food is awesome (our favorite place was Tampico's, which has been there since the 1950s, though it has changed ownership once, during the 70s)....I miss Tampico's, my vets and HEB......

tgannaway89 · 04-02-2008, 11:06 PM

Best Mexican food. Not very attractive. Plenty of jobs, growing economy.

sah1234 · 05-02-2008, 02:08 PM

Good economy---lots of jobs. Not very pretty and not a lot to do. Midland has more retails stores but either place isn't horrible to live in. You get used to it after a while. Weather...its not bad at all. We have had a few hail storms this year, but like anything you move on. Tornadoes usually go around us. Just hope you like dust and dirt.

jtss · 05-14-2010, 02:12 PM

I currently live in Odessa and the weather is basically how Lucidus and Slickblackvette described. Just yesterday it hailed for about 15 min. and it was about the size of a pingpong. lol. I lived in Midland for a year and Odessa for 1 yr and have seen a few thunderstorms which is usually really bad wind and rain. It has hailed only a couple of times and it doesnt last very long.

On another note, I have not found a good restaurant here. If you know good mexican food than you know that the food here sucks. There are other restaurants like Carinos, Chilli's, Applebee's, etc. They are okay...I have tasted better at other locations. I am comparing the food here from restaurants in Nvo. Laredo, MEX., Laredo, San Antonio, Austin, Temple, Killeen, Corpus, Houston, and Dallas...and in between.

As for the jobs...there are many here especially having to do with the oil field. We moved over here because my husband got a good job here....where he makes twice as much as he did before.
There are companies that will hire you and train you even though you know nothing about the oil field, however they will work you to your last ounce of energy and beyond.

There isnt alot of selection at the mall in either city. The main attraction is the ice skating rink in the Music City mall. There are alot of night clubs and bars...I have only been to a few and they are ok. Midland looks alot cleaner than Odessa and there are nicer neighborhoods in Midland but most of the work is in Odessa. I have heard many people decribe Midland as the white collar city and Odessa as the blue collar city.

So if you want to move over here for a job, you will likely find one. The twin cities is not a great place to live but it isnt horrible. Good luck!

LeBleuBonnet · 05-17-2010, 08:09 AM

Midland is nicely kept, lower crime, all-around better than Odessa, sorry. That's just facts. Midland has many more trees kept nicely and guarded well. Outside of the loop, both towns are pug ugly.

Ohio has much worse weather than we ever dreamed of having. I have one word for you: XENIA.

Jobs here are service-industry. I don't know why the myth of the glorious oil boom is still going around. Done gone BUST.

Lucidus · 05-17-2010, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeBleuBonnet

Midland is nicely kept, lower crime, all-around better than Odessa, sorry. That's just facts. Midland has many more trees kept nicely and guarded well. Outside of the loop, both towns are pug ugly.

Ohio has much worse weather than we ever dreamed of having. I have one word for you: XENIA.

Jobs here are service-industry. I don't know why the myth of the glorious oil boom is still going around. Done gone BUST.

I thought that everybody knew that the "boom" ended in the fall of 2008. But I wouldn't say there has been a bust either. Yeah things are tough, but Midland/Odessa looks great compared to most of the country. I recently posted a study by the Milken Institute that had Midland as the #1 performing small city in the country, and Odessa was #5. These rankings include the time when oil prices were at there lowest recent level.

If you think Midland/Odessa has it bad right now, then you may need to adjust your perspective.