Austin winters for a younger snow bird? (Portland, San Diego: apartment, rent)

[ctr88]

I live in Seattle and it can get pretty cold, gray and dreary here especially from Nov-May (but it can be predominantly overcast from late Sept to mid June). Other than that, I like Seattle in most other ways. Summers are a slice of heaven here. I work from home and can live anywhere so I've been looking at a lot of warmer places to live 6 mos during the worst of the weather here. I have no kids and am currently single in early 40's. I lived in Austin for 2 months back in 2006 in June and July (so I have seen the brutally hot weather...but I will not be living in Austin in summers fortunately ).

I checked out Florida and really just didn't like any of the cities there very much. It has the weather, but unfortunately no interesting cities IMO. Checked out Phoenix/Scottsdale, again great winter weather but didn't like it at all. I have lived in San Diego previously, the winter weather is good but have never been a big fan of SD or SoCal, and I would rather not go back there. Hawaii is an option and super beautiful but it's isolated and I don't think it would work for a long period for 4-6 mos. So that leaves Austin as the only semi warm weather city in the US I really like. I know it's not 75 degrees Dec-Feb, but low 60's and some sun is not bad. Just curious about what others think of this plan? I would probably rent a furnished short term place when I'm there at least for the first go around.

I have not been back to Austin in almost 9 years so not sure how much it's changed. But I'm taking a trip there to check it out again for a week and get a feel.

[coachtaylor]

Sounds like a plan. I dream of having this setup - well, Austin for most of the year except summers. Nice gig if you can swing it! I would just suggest looking closely at the weather. Today was beautiful, SoCal-type day. But there have been quite a few days in the 30s-50s too, it's not all 65 all the time.

[ctr88]

I have heard that there are swings in temps. Some places get their average temps by being close to that average all the time (Hawaii for example). But some areas have lots of swings in temps and arrive at a monthly average of say 63 degrees day time high by being 72 one day, 46 another, 57 another, etc... Again the only time I have been to Austin was June and July in 2006, and I actually still liked it a lot then despite the heat. What is the weather like in Dec, Jan, Feb? My guess is by March it's starting to get nice all the time.

Also how difficult is it to get UT mens basketball tix? If I lived in Austin in winter/early spring I would be a frequent attendee as I'm a college basketball nut.

It's interesting reading though the Austin forum. It sounds like Seattle is going though very similar issues from hyper growth due to tech jobs (terrible traffic, rents and house prices escalating quickly, TONS of large new apartment buildings going up everywhere, a lot of long term residents complaining how Seattle is "not like it used to be", a lot of long term residents saying Seattle is no longer as "weird" and has "gone more commercial", etc...).

[centralaustinite]

Easy peasy to get UT men's basketball tickets!

[G Grasshopper]

The whole month of December and half of January were cloudy, cold (but mostly above feezing) and sometimes drizzly. Last winter we had 7 freeze incidents, but nice weather in between. We have been dry in recent years, but there have been very wet years. You never know what the weather will be in Austin in winter, and there is no guarantee of nice weather. I'm not trying to dissuade you, but you should be aware that winter weather here is not consistently nice. My mom used to live in Tucson, and for maybe ten years, we spent a few weeks there at Christmas; it was consistently beautiful in the winter.

[ctr88]

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

The whole month of December and half of January were cloudy, cold (but mostly above feezing) and sometimes drizzly. Last winter we had 7 freeze incidents, but nice weather in between. We have been dry in recent years, but there have been very wet years. You never know what the weather will be in Austin in winter, and there is no guarantee of nice weather. I'm not trying to dissuade you, but you should be aware that winter weather here is not consistently nice. My mom used to live in Tucson, and for maybe ten years, we spent a few weeks there at Christmas; it was consistently beautiful in the winter.

Thanks I have heard that about Austin. The averages must not tell the story then. Unfortunately I'm not a fan or Tuscon or Phoenix. It's interesting the ave temps in Tucson in winter are not that different than Austin, mid 60's, but sometimes averages don't tell the whole story. Below are Austin temperature averages off Wikipedia day time high & night time low and Seattle's in parenthesis:

-Nov: 71/51 (51/41)
-Dec: 63/42 (46/36)
-Jan: 62/42 (47/37)
-Feb: 65/45 (50/37)
-March: 72/51 (54/39)
-April: 80/59 (59/43)

Substantially better than Seattle.

I tried really hard to like Florida because it has the right winter temps, but could not see myself living anywhere in FL for 4-6 mos. Unfortunately FL has no interesting cities like Austin, Seattle, Portland, etc... It is easy to find interesting cities in cold areas of the U.S., it is harder in warmer areas.

[ctr88]

Do February's get a lot more consistently nice weather than Dec/Jan?

[riaelise]

Winter here can be hit or miss daily. Expect to have a least a few below 50 days each week, with a 60 degree day here and there. It can be cold, wet, and while it rarely snows you do get ice and "wintry mix". This year was a decent year, but even then, December and January weren't that great weather wise for the most part. I don't like 50 degrees or below.

Austin does have a winter. The difference is that it rarely snows, no winter storms, and winter quickly goes away vs. the prolonged winters of the north.

[ctr88]

Statistically Seattle in May is not much warmer than Austin in December!

-Austin Dec: 63/42
-Seattle May: 64/48

[G Grasshopper]

Averages don't tell the story very well when they are composed of wide swings. Last year, one of our freezes went down to 17 degrees, but I also have experienced 80 degee weather on Christmas day.

February can sometimes be nicer than Dec. and Jan., and so far this year it has been. But note that the "average last freeze" day (after which gardens are, on average, safe from freezing) is March 1 to 5, depending on the book you read. Last year we had a freeze after that day, and I understand that the latest freeze on record is April 9.