Areas with a bait-and-switch climate

[cBach]

Originally Posted by MrJester

I suppose time of year counts. But I went to Seattle in June and it was still drizzly, chilly, and overcast. No surprise there.

I think the biggest surprise would be the Central Valley of California. Brutally hot, endlessly sunny summers but rainy, foggy winters that actually have less sunshine hours than Boston in January, despite being further south than Boston.

I like the summers in the Central Valley, a nice dry heat you don't really even sweat much and the nights are really pleasant. The winters are dreary but you have to have some rain or it will be a desert.

I'm starting to think I may need to eventually retire in a desert, I want year round warmth.

[BMI]

Originally Posted by cBach

Maybe Miami with the swamplands on the backsides? People visit Miami Beach, see it in all its glory then realize they can't afford it and have to be out near the Everglades with no beaches, mosquitoes, no ocean wind, and prone to flooding?

Yes you see pictures of Miami Beach ....but you can only afford to live in a cheap house
inland where it’s hot, sticky ...and so buggy that your pool and patio have to be screened in,
a “lanai” they call down in south Florida

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by cBach

I like the summers in the Central Valley, a nice dry heat you don't really even sweat much and the nights are really pleasant. The winters are dreary but you have to have some rain or it will be a desert.

I'm starting to think I may need to eventually retire in a desert, I want year round warmth.

If you can take Austin summers, I think you'd like Phoenix. Our normal high today is 68°F, and normal low is 47°F. Warmer than Austins 63°F/37°F and we are more stable. We haven't had a high below 50°F since Jan 1st of 2015

[cBach]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

If you can take Austin summers, I think you'd like Phoenix. Our normal high today is 68°F, and normal low is 47°F. Warmer than Austins 63°F/37°F and we are more stable. We haven't had a high below 50°F since Jan 1st of 2015

What I like about Austin you don't have lol

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by cBach

What I like about Austin you don't have lol

What's that?

[grega94]

Originally Posted by MrJester

I suppose time of year counts. But I went to Seattle in June and it was still drizzly, chilly, and overcast. No surprise there.

I think the biggest surprise would be the Central Valley of California. Brutally hot, endlessly sunny summers but rainy, foggy winters that actually have less sunshine hours than Boston in January, despite being further south than Boston.

Well Summer doesn’t start till July in Seattle, June is very much a spring month.

[wawa1992]

Originally Posted by grega94

Well Summer doesn’t start till July in Seattle, June is very much a spring month.

I hate climates like that. June needs to be a summer month.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by MrJester

What areas have a Switch-and-bait climate? That is, tourists go to only the touristy expensive part of the city with the mild weather, then automatically assume that the entire city is just as nice, climate-wise, when in reality other parts of the city have brutal weather?

LA is such a switch-and-bait kind of climate. By which I mean tourists go to only the expensive beach areas and automatically think that all of the Greater LA area has this wonderful climate. Then they try to move here, but realize that everywhere with a mild climate in Greater LA is in$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$anely expen$$$$$$$$$$$$ive. So they have no choice but to look at the relatively cheap real estate in the Inland Empire, where they have fun with brutal summers punctuated with heat waves that can reach up to 110 degrees, with absolutely no rain nor cloud cover nor sea breeze all summer long, not to mention that autumn and winter is absolutely plagued with nasty Santa Ana winds that bring hurricane-force gusts, very itchy, migraine-inducing, allergy weather, and very high fire danger.

Western Oregon and Washington...people come up during the summer and it's absolutely gorgeous and make a decision to move here and then when winter hits and you have months of rain and gray skies, many make the decision to return from whence they came.

[Botev1912]

Almost nobody moves to Seattle or Portland for the weather. People would move to LA or San Diego if weather was the most important thing in their life.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

Almost nobody moves to Seattle or Portland for the weather. People would move to LA or San Diego if weather was the most important thing in their life.

It's the beauty of the area combined with the summer weather....I've known numerous people that have made the move to the PNW after visiting in the summer (especially Californians) without experiencing the winter and then later left for sunnier climes.