Atlanta weather (Peachtree City, Boston, Bartow: house, tornado, living in)

[georgiaguy08]

Why do people always say that Atlanta has great weather ? I mean, when you compare it to some place like Minneapolis, Chicago, or Boston, yeah it has great weather, especially in the winter. But saying Atlanta has great weather is just silly. For instance, my house was destroyed in a tornado this spring. I moved to a house about 2 miles away, and in May that house was badly damaged in a tornado and I had to move once again. So, if you plan on moving to the Atlanta area, keep in mind that tornadoes are a very real threat. Atlanta is on the eastern fringes of the southern tornado alley, which extends from Texas to Georgia. If you are moving from up north, I guess you have to consider whether you would rather deal with the cold, snowy winters up north or the threat of losing your house in a tornado in the south in the spring. Also, the weather in the winter is pretty darn cold in Atlanta. No, it's not as cold as Chicago or Boston obviously, but someone from Florida would definitely think that Atlanta has cold weather in the winter. There are many nights in the winter when the lows are the 20s and sometimes in the 10s. Many afternoons dont get above 45. It's all relative. Atlanta can also get extremely hot in the summer, sometimes getting as hot as 105. Last summer was especially brutal.

[BobKovacs]

Let's bear in mind that this year's tornados were an extremely unusual occurence- not just in Atlanta, but across the country. Most years there's barely one tornado, yet alone the number/scale of tornados that the region experienced this year. You, unfortunately, had the extremely bad luck of being directly affected by two tornados, whereas 99+% of the population never feels the effect of even one.

While it's good to avoid just sticking your head in the sand and not realizing that tornados do occur here, they'd probably be around number 90 on my list of concerns in considering a move to the area.

[goozer]

Sorry to hear that you were a victim of the recent tornados that have hit the Atlanta area. I can understand why that would give you a strong negative impression of the Atlanta weather. For my part, I think Atlanta weather is better than at least 80% of the rest of the country. The summers are occasionally oppressive, granted, but the other three seasons are usually very nice. I particularly like winter here. It does get down to 30-35 degrees (daytime temps) every so often, but when it does you are almost guaranteed that in 3-5 days the daytime temps will be back up to 55-60 degrees. The amount of mild and balmy winter days is amazing here. And it has just enough truly cold days to make it feel like a four season climate.

[thedudewiththeplan]

I agree that Atlanta has some pretty crappy weather. When I lived in Peachtree City, we had a tornado come though, a pretty powerful microburst, some bad flooding from a tropical storm, and lots and lots and lots of severe thunderstorms!!!!!!!!!!!! Basically the closer you get to the equator, the worse the storms get due to the hot air. And the heat island effect of the Atlanta area does not help the matter. If you want nice weather, San Diego is your best bet (if you can afford it).

[Iconographer]

I've lived in NYC, I've lived in S FL, I've lived in DC...the weather here is great.
Oh, yeah, I do know a place where the weather is perfect...it's called Fantasyland.

[ready2move]

Originally Posted by georgiaguy08

obviously, but someone from Florida would definitely think that Atlanta has cold weather in the winter. It's all relative. Atlanta can also get extremely hot in the summer, sometimes getting as hot as 105. Last summer was especially brutal.

I lived in South Florida for 20+ years, and you betcha I think Atlanta is cold in the winter. I am used to tempature and humidity being about the same, but last summer as hot as it was, had very low humidity, so it felt great to me. Like you said, it's all relative.

[goozer]

Originally Posted by ready2move

I lived in South Florida for 20+ years, and you betcha I think Atlanta is cold in the winter. I am used to tempature and humidity being about the same, but last summer as hot as it was, had very low humidity, so it felt great to me. Like you said, it's all relative.

Good point. If you want the warmest climate possible, including warm winters, Florida is the place. To me, Florida winters are like warm springs in most other places. If you want a warm climate that still has four distinct seasons, Atlanta weather is hard to beat.

[atlantagreg30127]

Atlanta's weather HAS shifted a bit since I moved here in 1984. It's more like what Northern Florida was back then, now. Tornadoes were more rare, as were 100 degree days, drought, "pop-up storms" in the afternoons were not nearly as severe as they are these days, etc. But then it's not unique to Atlanta - the climate really is shifting across the board everywhere.

But as everyone else said earlier, this years tornado outbreak WAS odd even considering changes in the climate. About 5 years ago we also had an active tornado Spring season, and I can't remember the last one before that which I'd call "very active".

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by goozer

Good point. If you want the warmest climate possible, including warm winters, Florida is the place. To me, Florida winters are like warm springs in most other places. If you want a warm climate that still has four distinct seasons, Atlanta weather is hard to beat.

I agree. if you want somewhere with NO winter, then Florida is your place. To call Atlanta winters cold would be a bit of an exaggeration, given it just barely gets below freezing and only for a few hours in the middle of the night and only for a month or two. I guess if your frame of reference is Florida, then anything that isn't perpetual summer will seem cold.

Atlanta gives a 4 season climate, but winter is very short and usually muted. You can get temps in the teens and an occasional snow flake, but both a rare. Summer is hot and humid, but Atlanta doesn't have a lock on those conditions. Spring and fall are beautiful and give you the best of all worlds: sunny, dry, and warm conditions (which in normal, drought free years is a good thing).

This summer is trending like I remember it when I lived here in the '80s, with hot and humid days and t-storms in the late afternoon and evening. In fact, the heat seems less than before. I can remember discussions in the past how many days in a row we had been at or above 90 and mainly in the mid-90s, with several days in the 80s in the 100's. In fact, July 1980 had the highest temperature ever recorded in Atlanta (105 degrees) and 1985 was the coldest winter on record. The year we seem to be quite close to normal with highs in the 80s to just 90. One thing I don't remember being as bad (at least living in Gwinnett) was the number of tornadoes. Although if you look back in history, the Atlanta area, and especially Cobb, Cherokee, and Bartow counties have been quite active and have had tornadoes.

I'm not sure about any real changes in Atlanta's climate being true, and I can remember a similar drought in 1986 and many hotter summers here, so I think most of it is just cyclical. People need to remember that climate and weather are long term cycles and it's a mistake to judge by a few years or short term trend.

[Christina311]

I'm not an expert on Atlanta weather but I find it interesting that somebody mentioned Boston. I don't think the differences are as extreme as people assume. I wonder if there's a shift in climate going on. Boston is definetly getting warmer. Little snow each winter and hot/humid/long summers. I've been to Atlanta many times mid-summer and only found it a little warmer than Boston but not more humid. Since I've became really fascinated with weather in the past couple of years sometimes I check the forecast for multiple U.S. cities daily. Temperatures in Atlanta have been lower than in Boston in the winter more times than not if you look at the low for the day. Daytime temps are higher in Atlanta during the winter but about the same during the summer. I was just looking at a national temperature map predicting tomorrow's low temps. I saved a screenshot because the actual map updates constantly.