Houston summer vs. Dallas summer weather (Spring: transfer, live, car)

[kenshi]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

Are you implying the American Lung Association is not an accurate source for pollution in cities? You outta be slapped silly.

Houston air is actually very clear & clean when we get a good west/northwesterly wind blowing. Its those east/southeasterly winds is when air quality levels read really bad.

Dallas is the same way, when the wind is blowing in from the south it brings up all that refinery pollution from Waxahachi just to the south of Dallas.

No, I'm implying (and now saying) you went by only the ozone category since it was the only category that had both metros. Houston alone made the list for year-round particle pollution though it was towards the bottom while DFW didn't and neither city made the short-term particle pollution list, though if you click on them in the other lists, it says Houston is 68th and DFW is 149th. Unfortunately though I don't see any absolute numbers to give us an idea of how large the gap is between the metros.

Since I seldom go to Houston, I'm not making any claims about if and where you can smell pollution. I'm just saying that humidity has a major effect on the sense of smell, so even if the two cities had the exact same amounts of pollution, it's likely that it would be more easily smelled in the more humid one.

[ClarenceBodiker]

Originally Posted by brent6969

Both are horrifying.............

This is the correct answer. Yes, Houston is more humid in the summer. Yes, Dallas is colder in the winter. In the end it's apples to green apples.

Anything east of Abilene sucks weather wise. If there was a booming metropolis with lots of jobs in West Texas like Dallas or Houston I'd be living there instead of North Texas.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by ClarenceBodiker

This is the correct answer. Yes, Houston is more humid in the summer. Yes, Dallas is colder in the winter. In the end it's apples to green apples.

Anything east of Abilene sucks weather wise. If there was a booming metropolis with lots of jobs in West Texas like Dallas or Houston I'd be living there instead of North Texas.

I am the exact opposite. Prefer anything east of 35. If Houston was where Nacogdoches is, That would have been my ideal spot

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by HtownLove

I am the exact opposite. Prefer anything east of 35. If Houston was where Nacogdoches is, That would have been my ideal spot

!!!

I've always wondered how neat it would be if Houston (or any major city) was located where Nacogdoches is. There would be plenty of hills, trees, a nice amount of humidity and cooler weather in autumn/winter.

[HtownLove]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

!!!

I've always wondered how neat it would be if Houston (or any major city) was located where Nacogdoches is. There would be plenty of hills, trees, a nice amount of humidity and cooler weather in autumn/winter.

Sound interesting doesn't it.

The west has nice topography but not so nice plant life. Love East Texas and wish Houston was a tad bit more North east.

Really an underrated area. I think the hill country is a tad overrated. But yeah, plop Houston around that area, and I would be content. Would lose the beach, but I don't trust US beaches anyway. Too cold and grimy.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by kenshi

No, I'm implying (and now saying) you went by only the ozone category since it was the only category that had both metros. Houston alone made the list for year-round particle pollution though it was towards the bottom while DFW didn't and neither city made the short-term particle pollution list, though if you click on them in the other lists, it says Houston is 68th and DFW is 149th. Unfortunately though I don't see any absolute numbers to give us an idea of how large the gap is between the metros.

Since I seldom go to Houston, I'm not making any claims about if and where you can smell pollution. I'm just saying that humidity has a major effect on the sense of smell, so even if the two cities had the exact same amounts of pollution, it's likely that it would be more easily smelled in the more humid one.

This is only the partial truth. Drier air (Dallas) yields worst ozone levels in hot weather. Humid air (Houston) decreases visibility due to particle pollution. Its all simple physics.

That said, Dallas is not always dry & Houston is not always humid. I've been in Houston when its 30% humidity many times & it feels just like Dallas. I've been in Dallas when its 80-90% humidity & it feels just like Houston. On average, yes, Houston is slightly more humid than Dallas, but not by as much as one, such as yourself would automatically assume. This past summer was unusually hot & dry in both cities.

Summer humidity is going to be brutal anywhere in Texas east of the I-35 corridor.

Relative humidity: This term refers to the amount of moisture in the air. Moisture helps clouds form by causing air to rise and cool. When air is dry, it does not move as much, and pollutants build up. For example, on days when ozone is high, the relative humidity is often very low. Humidity adds water to the atmosphere, and this moisture is absorbed by particles, causing them to swell and impair visibility even more. Therefore, poor visibility on humid days is the result of particle pollution and moisture interactions.

Taken directly from the EPA's website.

What Affects my Air Quality? (http://www.epa.gov/airnow/airaware/day2-detail.html - broken link)

[kenshi]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

This is only the partial truth. Drier air (Dallas) yields worst ozone levels in hot weather. Humid air (Houston) decreases visibility due to particle pollution. Its all simple physics.

You've already posted a link saying Houston has more ozone than Dallas, if only a little, so the fact that drier climates (like Dallas has) tend to have more ozone is irrelevant.

That said, Dallas is not always dry & Houston is not always humid. I've been in Houston when its 30% humidity many times & it feels just like Dallas. I've been in Dallas when its 80-90% humidity & it feels just like Houston. On average, yes, Houston is slightly more humid than Dallas, but not by as much as one, such as yourself would automatically assume. This past summer was unusually hot & dry in both cities.

I haven't assumed anything. This very site has a lot of statistics on various cities (hence the name) including weather. I've compared both cities to Longview, where I used to live. During the hottest part of the summer, Dallas is on average about 2 degrees hotter and 8% less humid than Longview. I don't remember Houston as accurately, but I think it was about 3 degrees cooler and 10% more humid. That makes for quite a difference between Dallas and Houston. Sure, not every day brings more humidity to Houston than Dallas, but almost.

In any case, I think most of us can agree that a summer in Dallas, Houston, or anywhere in between is pretty dreadful even to those who are used to it. Just stay indoors and wait for October.

[llmrkc07]

Both cities have very warm summers. I cant really pin point which one is hotter and more humid because in all honesty there temperature patters are very similar. Houston just receives more humidity because its close to the coast. Lived in both places and the weather is pretty much the same.

Also, the pollution is not bad in Houston. Give the city some credit. For a city with industries that causes tons of pollution its doing better than some metros in California or other parts of the country that do not have half of the industry work that we do but always rank high in air pollution.

City Mayors: The most polluted US cities

[love roses]

Originally Posted by AK123

Ditto to all this... have lived both inside Houston and southwest of it, never smelled the refineries (which are limited to the east side suburb cities like Baytown, Pasadena, Channelview, etc.) except the rare times I actually drive through those areas when headed east out of town. Not to mention, Lakewooder lived in Houston decades ago, the experience is not that relevant to present times.

This....I lived in Clear Lake which is next door to Pasadena and I also never smelled the refineries, except for the times I drove near them. I also prefer humidity; it's much better for skin than dry air.

[Johnhw2]

Originally Posted by llmrkc07

Both cities have very warm summers. I cant really pin point which one is hotter and more humid because in all honesty there temperature patters are very similar. Houston just receives more humidity because its close to the coast. Lived in both places and the weather is pretty much the same.

Also, the pollution is not bad in Houston. Give the city some credit. For a city with industries that causes tons of pollution its doing better than some metros in California or other parts of the country that do not have half of the industry work that we do but always rank high in air pollution.

City Mayors: The most polluted US cities

I agree completely, my black suv stays hotter in Dallas than in Houston due to the sun exposure it gets in the summers. I drive 20 miles from work to home and in the summers it can take more than half the way to really cool down the suv... despite it having a strong a/c. In Houston, the humidity makes it impossible to go out or walk without sweating during summers. I just put up with summers in these two cities but manage to play golf during the summer months even though not as enjoyable as other times of the year... Both have summers that are miserable but overall I wouldnt live any where else.

Refinery smell or other population was not an issue in Houston for me or my wife who has acute allergies. The air in DFW is clearer and I prefer it more as well as the weather here the balance of the year. Summers a tie weather wise however