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I love hiking, walking, just plain being outdoors. I'm considering moving to Charleston. I'm wondering -- how many months out of the year is the weather good for being outside? And how many months out of the year are the trees "green" (how badly do the trees lose their leaves in the winter?)
My fear is that the only time Charleston has nice weather AND green trees is for a few months out of the year -- if the the trees are really grey and barren in the winter, and it is too hot to be outside in the summer. Any thoughts?
This is the perfect place for someone that likes to be outside! In the summer when it is too hot, you can do water activities...swimming, boogie boarding, kayaking, SUP, etc. The other months you can hike, walk, bike, and anything else.
This winter was a little colder than the last couple winters, but we are normally outside all winter long. Actually, we are outside all year long. This winter we didn't go out as much as usual.
There are some trees that lose their leaves, and some that don't, so you always have some trees that are green. There is always some green grass too.
I find outdoors activities 12 months of the year and love it here. I do miss a little snow every now and then but not enough to actually want to live in a cold climate. With family up around Asheville, I get up to see a little cold weather every winter anyway. (this winter I didn't really need to travel for that!)
The summer heat is something you get used to. As MINIcoop said, the best activities for the hot summer around here involve the water. I prefer kayaking which is sort of like hiking, but on the water and it's a year round activity. Yesterday I got out around dawn, paddled around many Dolphins hunting in deeper waters, watched a couple of Mink bounce around on the rocks, watched an Osprey fishing, saw a small school of big Redfish, observed Buffleheads, Mergansers, Scaups, etc (all the usual suspects) and was home by noon. I wouldn't do that in February in much more northern climes.
Spring and Fall are fantastic around here.
In my book, the biggest downside to the Lowcountry outdoors is the biting insects. You learn fast how to avoid them or deal with them and they don't stop me often anymore. I am willing to use deet though.
During the summer, the heat and humidity can be pretty miserable during the middle of the day (say 11 am to 4 pm). But if you live fairly close to the coast, you will find that evening temps moderate quite nicely, and with the sun "out" until 9 pm-ish, you can grab some outdoor hours in the evening, especially at the beach, or of course you have the morning hours when you can beat the heat.
Wore shorts yesterday, will be wearing them all week...there are far more "blue sky" days here in winter than I imagined there would be prior to moving here.
You might want to research the weather averages here. I don't think I've ever seen someone ask if the weather was good enough to do outdoor activity in Charleston.
Hiking is.. well let's just say it's pretty flat around here. So it's really more like a long stroll.
Being on the coast most of our activities tend to be water related. That's not to say others don't exist, but water tends to dominate the choices..
...there are far more "blue sky" days here in winter than I imagined there would be prior to moving here.
Isn't that the truth! It took me quite a while to get used to having sun all the time. The other week when it was cloudy just about the whole week started to get depressing, even though that is what I moved from.
I prefer kayaking which is sort of like hiking, but on the water and it's a year round activity. Yesterday I got out around dawn, paddled around many Dolphins hunting in deeper waters, watched a couple of Mink bounce around on the rocks, watched an Osprey fishing, saw a small school of big Redfish, observed Buffleheads, Mergansers, Scaups, etc (all the usual suspects) and was home by noon. I wouldn't do that in February in much more northern climes.
Care to share your kayaking put in & route? Sounds wonderful!
I put in at Sunrise Park next to the James Island Yacht Club and rode the tide down to the DNR offices and "No Name Island". Mink live in the rocks on the point there where the DNR launch is. The dolphin were all along that area and sticking to the deeper waters. It's a few minutes from my house so I go there often. You can paddle out to Ft Sumter easily or even around to Morris Island for some interesting beach combing.
I'm not going to mention where I saw the big Redfish.
We get season passes and live at the Charleston waterparks all summer. Beaches on the weekends especially Sunday when most tourists are headed back home.
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