The Perfect Climate (rainfall, night, America, inches)

[ogre]

Originally Posted by lemonade

This is the most simple and probably most posted question - in some form or another? Can you help:

In search of the perfect climate....that holy grail of weather - Does it exist in the US??!

Perfect climate: comfortable year round - no extremes - not too hot or humid in summer, not too cold in winter (spring and fall are easy - they are nice in most places.) AND lots of sun.

and here's the catch - not too expensive!!

Southern California seems like the best climate - except it's too expensive; South is too hot in summer, and too humid; Pacific northwest seems too grey and rainy; East coast, well...; the West/Southwest seems too hot in summer in most places but there could be some possibilities?

Where should we look?? We welcome ALL ideas - even the most farfetched!!!

Maybe the coastal zone in central CA, a few miles inland, so you avoid a lot of the coastal fog. Moderate temperatures all year. Obviously you can forget the Bay Area, due to the requirement that the place not be too expensive, but perhaps some smaller communities in that general region would work. Another possibility that occurs to me would be the mountains in the Carolinas. I'm not personally familiar with the region, so this is speculation, but it seems possible that the altitude might moderate the summer heat enough to make it comfortable, while it's far enough south so it may well be that even at some altitude the winters would still be significantly milder than those in the Northeast or Midwest. Also, depending on what exactly you mean by "not too cold in winter," along the coast of southern New England, Long Island, maybe NJ, might work. These areas are quite a bit milder in winter than the interior regions in the Northeast, and proximity to the water would also moderate the summer heat. The "not too expensive" part would be tricky, but you never know. Maybe there's the occasional town here or there that isn't as expensive as the region in general.

[Magnum Mike]

Perfect place with perfect weather? There is no such place.

The coastal and other areas of California are not necessarily perfect anymore because they do get a lot of rain and landslides, like what happened in Malibu Beach last year. It's also too expensive, not to mention other aspects (besides earthquakes) that don't make California too appealing anymore. California was probably a good state to live in 40 years ago, but not anymore.

If you want the perfect place to live, you're going to have to look for more than one place to spend summers and winters. If I could do it, I'd live in the high elevations of Arizona from May through the end of September, and in smaller towns, like Wickenberg, in the desert elevations of Arizona in the fall, winter and spring.

[GraniteStater]

Perfect climate= central coast of California. Temperatures are usually in the 60s and 70s near the ocean and the air pollution is MUCH less compared with So Cal. The real estate prices there are extremely spendy, and only the wealthy can afford it for the most part.

[NoHometoCallMyOwn]

Originally Posted by AnthonySA

For a weather enthusiast like me....
http://www.sun-tek.com/Pictures/SevereWeather.jpg (broken link)


Just kidding

My favorite kind of weather is temps year round in the 80s, a few storms here and there (NOT EVERYDAY like this year).

I'll take the thunderstorms in the picture. I actually miss more intense thunderstorms. Maryland doesn't have too many compared to the South. I can just do without the tornados.

[Justino1]

I know it's not in the US, but central coast of New South Wales in Australia is up there for perfect climates - However, like California, you have to put up with extortionate real estate prices (yes, even in $US terms) and over-crowding. Like all great climate zones, I'm not the first person to figure it out.
I also nominate Mexico City as a near-perfect climate zone - which is why 20 million people live there and the Aztecs made it their capital.

[Jammie]

Originally Posted by Justino1

I know it's not in the US, but central coast of New South Wales in Australia is up there for perfect climates - However, like California, you have to put up with extortionate real estate prices (yes, even in $US terms) and over-crowding. Like all great climate zones, I'm not the first person to figure it out.
I also nominate Mexico City as a near-perfect climate zone - which is why 20 million people live there and the Aztecs made it their capital.

That's interesting. So what type of climate does Mexico City have? I'm guessing nice and warm, but is it arid or humid? Always summer there?

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Jammie

That's interesting. So what type of climate does Mexico City have? I'm guessing nice and warm, but is it arid or humid? Always summer there?

Kinda, sorta similar to Seattle (temp wise):
Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Mexico City, Mexico

Extremely humid:
Mexico City, Mexico 7-Day Forecast and current weather from WeatherBug.com

[Jammie]

ITALIA - Temperature Conversion

OK, guess I thought it'd be warmer then that. Since I didn't pay attention on the days we were learning the metric system and all those things, I have to use my trusty conversion chart.

[IceCat]

I have lived in a few parts of the country and traveled them all. My hubby and I alternated choices of where to live and it was my turn. After traveling for a couple of years I picked Flagstaff, AZ. Yes there is snow in the winter but it melts in a few days due to high altitude and lots of sun. One weekend it snowed 12 inches on Sat. and 12 more on Sun. Gone by Wed. Years ago that probably wasn't true, but everywhere in the country is getting more polluted. It is not cheap to live here, but it is dry and sunny ... no flees, no chiggers, no wood ticks, no flies to speak of. And lots of fresh air. Growing up in Minnesota I miss the lakes, but Phoenix is 2 hours away, and Sedona an hour. You can have a drastic change of climate very quickly. The rest of AZ is tripple digit summers, but not here. Just my two cents. Otherwise the South Pacific islands are perfect.

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Jammie

That's interesting. So what type of climate does Mexico City have? I'm guessing nice and warm, but is it arid or humid? Always summer there?

I really do not care what kind of climate Mexico City has. All I know is that it is one of the most polluted cities in the world.
However, the higher elevation does keep the temperatures cooler there.