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There's an opening in Wichita for my husband's company, and I'm trying to keep an open mind on Wichita.
I was raised in NE Iowa, it's downright cold, miserable, humid, 6 months of winter pretty much there, with horrible summers. I lived in IL and now IN. So midwest is pretty much what I know. I'm not overly fond of Midwest.
I actually hated living in Iowa. And I'm afraid that Wichita is going to be an Iowa, albeit much larger than the town I lived in, with more things to do. But same type of people and weather.
I see there are museums, a zoo, there are groups for homeschooling and Mom's. There aren't any real Whole Foods or Trader Joes (all of which I utilize now). But hey, I've never thrown a town under a bus for not having a Whole Foods.
My biggest concerns is the actual weather. Weather, for me, is important. If I could, I'd live in Seattle/Washington, and I KNOW that KS does not have Washington weather. I'm at peace with that.
But, I'm afraid of tornado activity. How often are sirens going off? Prime-time TV interrupted by serve weather? Is there a tornado annually in Wichita/surrounding area? If I move there, do I pretty much just need to realize that I am going to be in a tornado... cause I lived in Iowa, and they've all missed me, towns just miles away completely destroyed, but I've never been in one (and I'd like to keep it that way.)
It's the biggest thing that has kept us from applying for the relocation. The tornadoes, extreme heat in the summer (is it really that bad?), and extreme cold in the winter (is it really horrible?). I've lived with Minnesota type winters most of my life, I'm not sure how KS compares to that?
Is there any suburbs that are in a valley so to speak? A valley that doesn't get flooded all the time?
You won't be happy here. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Wichita but I don't love it either. I don't mean this rude, but if you can't handle summers in Iowa you won't be happy here or many places in the US. Most homes have basements and most often if there is a tornado, it's in the western part of the state. It is always a possibillity for late spring and early summer. If your biggest concern is weather, you won't like it here. IMO, everywhere from San Antonio to Minneapolis has extremes in weather. Expect our winters to be cold but have a FEW warmer days. Expect our summers to be hotter but not as bad as Oklahoma and Texas. There are a couple of local health food stores, Foodforthought and Green Acres. You can probably get what you want there. Also, Yoeder meats sells high quality all natural meat. It's not organic though. Personally, I think a town is what you make it and living here gives me opportunities to travel all over and I enjoy that more than I would living in a cool place like Seattle where I'd always struggle financially. From what you have described, Wichita sounds like an improvment from where you are at, but I think you will be very unhappy here.
I actually hated living in Iowa. And I'm afraid that Wichita is going to be an Iowa, albeit much larger than the town I lived in, with more things to do. But same type of people and weather.
*shrug* With a bigger city comes more diversity, and Wichita is pretty diverse, actually. Don't let the naysayers tell you differently.
Quote:
Originally Posted by coffeebean
My biggest concerns is the actual weather. Weather, for me, is important. If I could, I'd live in Seattle/Washington, and I KNOW that KS does not have Washington weather. I'm at peace with that.
But, I'm afraid of tornado activity. How often are sirens going off? Prime-time TV interrupted by serve weather? Is there a tornado annually in Wichita/surrounding area? If I move there, do I pretty much just need to realize that I am going to be in a tornado... cause I lived in Iowa, and they've all missed me, towns just miles away completely destroyed, but I've never been in one (and I'd like to keep it that way.)
It's the biggest thing that has kept us from applying for the relocation. The tornadoes, extreme heat in the summer (is it really that bad?), and extreme cold in the winter (is it really horrible?). I've lived with Minnesota type winters most of my life, I'm not sure how KS compares to that?
Is there any suburbs that are in a valley so to speak? A valley that doesn't get flooded all the time?
Should we just pass this relocation on by?
I don't think you should worry about the weather, and tornadoes in particular, as much as you are.
If you look at the statistics for Sedgwick County (http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent%7Estorms - broken link), you'll see that, on average since 1950, there have been 1-2 tornadoes (most of them F0-F1) per year. Some years there are no tornadoes and other years there are 4-5. The key thing to note from looking at those statistics, though, is that most of these tornadoes were very low on the fajita scale (minor to moderate damage). Furthermore, here are some statistics on tornadoes for the entire state. About half-way down on that page, it shows graphs for tornadoes per 100 square miles and violent tornadoes per 1000 square miles. The violent tornadoes are the ones that have the capacity to kill and do major damage, not the minor tornadoes. Here's a quote from that NWS page I linked:
Quote:
For a proper perspective, 1000 square miles is roughly a tad bigger than Sedgwick County. This means that each Kansas county has experienced roughly 1-3 strong/violent tornadoes since 1950, assuming the area of each Kansas county is roughly 1000 square miles.
No, you do not need to "realize that I am going to be in a tornado". The likelihood of you being in even a minor tornado is extremely low, and the likelihood of you experiencing major property damage, injury, or death is even lower. In my opinion, you are much, much more likely to die in a car crash than from a tornado, yet you don't drive around in constant fear, do you? It's just a matter of perspective. Tornadoes are scary, for sure. I've lived here 23 years, and I have never witnessed one in person. I know older people who have lived here 70+ years, yet they too have never seen a tornado in person, let alone been affected by one.
As for the heat and cold, the past few years have actually been fairly moderate, both in the winter and summer. Winters are much milder and get much less snow than Minnesota. You'll see maybe 3-4 days of snow per winter. Summer can be hot, yes, but not as hot as people make it out to be. Temperatures in the summer are typically between the upper 80's to lower 90's, with a few weeks of upper 90's thrown in. Yes, it can be humid. But the summer heat is no where near as oppressive as the deep South.
The best way to approach the weather is to realize that your chances of ever being in a tornado are very low. Stay alert and pay attention during severe weather season, and actually find the beauty in storms. If you weren't happy with Iowa weather, you won't be much happier with Kansas weather. Yet Kansas weather, to me, is beautiful. It's ever-changing, providing 4 seasons and diversity. It rolls across the land in varying shapes and colors. It can be truly awe-inspiring if you only tweak your perspective just a little bit.
In an average year, it's more like 8-10 days of snow per year at least. In Wichita it can snow anytime in November, December, January, February, and March and it sometimes snows in late October and early April. Average snowfall per year in Wichita is 16 inches, but in an above-average year it could snow over 30 inches. I've seen it happen.
Last edited by Blue Earth; 09-08-2010 at 06:14 PM..
In an average year, it's more like 8-10 days of snow per year at least. In Wichita it can snow anytime in November, December, January, February, and March and it sometimes snows in late October and early April. Average snowfall per year in Wichita is 16 inches, but in an above-average year it could snow over 30 inches. I've seen it happen.
I personally think you're right on the number of snow days (I was undershooting it), but the NWS Snow Climatology website says otherwise. At the same time, though, Wikipedia and other sites give conflicting data.
Regarding the amount of snowfall per year, though, you're right on the money. Also, while true that there may be above-average years, there are also below-average years where it may only snow 5-6 inches, or very little.
I personally think you're right on the number of snow days (I was undershooting it), but the NWS Snow Climatology website says otherwise. At the same time, though, Wikipedia and other sites give conflicting data.
Regarding the amount of snowfall per year, though, you're right on the money. Also, while true that there may be above-average years, there are also below-average years where it may only snow 5-6 inches, or very little.
The NWS Snow Climatology link says on average Wichita receives snowfall 8.4 days per year, which is within the range of what I said, 8-10 days per year.
The truth is if someone is coming from Iowa, the Kansas winters are going to be less cold and have less snow that what they are used to. The only things that might be different in Kansas are the strong wind, which can turn even light snowfall into blizzard conditions, and the ice storms.
I personally like Kansas winters because they give you a taste of real winter weather, but at the same time they don't overwhelm you with snow and ice every day.
The NWS Snow Climatology link says on average Wichita receives snowfall 8.4 days per year, which is within the range of what I said, 8-10 days per year.
For some reason, I didn't link the stats I wanted to. I linked the "number of days with trace amounts or greater" instead of the "number of days with 1" or greater", which average about 3. I'd consider a snow day to be at least a 1" snow. But! Either way you look at it (3 days or 8-10 days), it really doesn't snow that much IMO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FreeStater
I personally like Kansas winters because they give you a taste of real winter weather, but at the same time they don't overwhelm you with snow and ice every day.
Agreed. I just wish it would snow on Christmas more often
Oh, we did have a question on the taxes. I keep reading about taxes being really high, but I'm having a hard time pinpointing how much the tax percentage is. Most of the information I find is on paying taxes. And if it's just property or sales, or income tax that is so high.
*shrug* With a bigger city comes more diversity, and Wichita is pretty diverse, actually. Don't let the naysayers tell you differently.
I don't think you should worry about the weather, and tornadoes in particular, as much as you are.
If you look at the statistics for Sedgwick County (http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwevent%7Estorms - broken link), you'll see that, on average since 1950, there have been 1-2 tornadoes (most of them F0-F1) per year. Some years there are no tornadoes and other years there are 4-5. The key thing to note from looking at those statistics, though, is that most of these tornadoes were very low on the fajita scale (minor to moderate damage). Furthermore, here are some statistics on tornadoes for the entire state. About half-way down on that page, it shows graphs for tornadoes per 100 square miles and violent tornadoes per 1000 square miles. The violent tornadoes are the ones that have the capacity to kill and do major damage, not the minor tornadoes. Here's a quote from that NWS page I linked:
No, you do not need to "realize that I am going to be in a tornado". The likelihood of you being in even a minor tornado is extremely low, and the likelihood of you experiencing major property damage, injury, or death is even lower. In my opinion, you are much, much more likely to die in a car crash than from a tornado, yet you don't drive around in constant fear, do you? It's just a matter of perspective. Tornadoes are scary, for sure. I've lived here 23 years, and I have never witnessed one in person. I know older people who have lived here 70+ years, yet they too have never seen a tornado in person, let alone been affected by one.
As for the heat and cold, the past few years have actually been fairly moderate, both in the winter and summer. Winters are much milder and get much less snow than Minnesota. You'll see maybe 3-4 days of snow per winter. Summer can be hot, yes, but not as hot as people make it out to be. Temperatures in the summer are typically between the upper 80's to lower 90's, with a few weeks of upper 90's thrown in. Yes, it can be humid. But the summer heat is no where near as oppressive as the deep South.
The best way to approach the weather is to realize that your chances of ever being in a tornado are very low. Stay alert and pay attention during severe weather season, and actually find the beauty in storms. If you weren't happy with Iowa weather, you won't be much happier with Kansas weather. Yet Kansas weather, to me, is beautiful. It's ever-changing, providing 4 seasons and diversity. It rolls across the land in varying shapes and colors. It can be truly awe-inspiring if you only tweak your perspective just a little bit.
I don't disagree with what you said, but if the OP finds areas of Iowa not to her liking, I don't think Wichita will be that different. If she just wants something new, Wichita might be great. But even though Kansas doesn't border Iowa, it probably shares more in common with Iowa than say Colorado from the front range west.
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