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Yes, there is a big difference in how seasons play out between coastal California and Texas. The difference between the coldest and hottest months is only 17 degrees in Los Angeles [Jan: 68F\ August 85F]. In Brownsville the difference is 24 degrees [Jan: 69F\ July 93F] which isn't too bad considering places like Houston has a 31 degree spread [Jan: 63F\ July 94] & Dallas is 41 degree spread [Jan: 55F\ July 96F]. But that short thermometer in Los Angeles gets a lot longer further away from the immediate coastline. The Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles in the San Fernando valley has a spread of 28 degrees [Jan: 68F\ July 96F]; actually warmer than Brownsville, and out in the desert in Palm Springs it goes from 70F in Jan to 108F in July; a spread of 38 degrees.
That's a factor one has to include; the California coast is strongly tempered by the Pacific ocean so winters are mild and summer are almost cool compared to most of the U.S. But inland away from the ocean; winters are mild and summers are hot. For example, Palm Springs is already in the 80's by March and the 90's by May. So warm springs also occur in California similar to Texas but not near the ocean.
But because Palm Springs is further inland, the Jan. low is 44F(40F for Woodland Hills)...that's colder then Houston.
What are the odds of me seeing more than a few Royal or King palms in the Rio Grande Valley?
Royal palms are quite common, about the fourth most common palm around the Brownsville-South Padre Island area.
They are only behind the ubiquitous Washingtonia robusta(Mexican Fan Palm),
the native Sabal Mexicana(Texas Palmetto), and Syagrus romanzoffiana(Queen Palm). Some are quite tall. I saw a few kings too. If you look hard enough you can find quite a few Coconuts(fruiting) on South Padre Island, not sure about the mainland though.
But because Palm Springs is further inland, the Jan. low is 44F(40F for Woodland Hills)...that's colder then Houston.
Houston's average Jan low is 45F [one degree warmer than Palm Springs]. Southern California is at a latitude between 32 & 34 N while Houston is 29N latitude and Brownsville is 26N latitude. That is much further south than California. Yet Houston is colder during the day by 5 or more degrees than Los Angeles and Palm Springs and gets frosts and even snowfall on occasion. Something that is extremely rare in Southern California. Tender plants are more likely to survive in California than Texas because the winters in Texas are subject to cold arctic blasts coming down from Canada. Those cold fronts can't penetrate California because of the high mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
Houston's average Jan low is 45F [one degree warmer than Palm Springs]. Southern California is at a latitude between 32 & 34 N while Houston is 29N latitude and Brownsville is 26N latitude. That is much further south than California. Yet Houston is colder during the day by 5 or more degrees than Los Angeles and Palm Springs and gets frosts and even snowfall on occasion. Something that is extremely rare in Southern California. Tender plants are more likely to survive in California than Texas because the winters in Texas are subject to cold arctic blasts coming down from Canada. Those cold fronts can't penetrate California because of the high mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
In the 18 months I've lived here, I have yet to see anything resembling an 'arctic blast'. I was in shorts and sandals on my birthday(January).
In the 18 months I've lived here, I have yet to see anything resembling an 'arctic blast'. I was in shorts and sandals on my birthday(January).
I think you have a short memory because Texas experienced one of the coldest winters on record last year and snow fell right down to the Gulf Coast. If you were in "short and sandals in January" than you were inside the house!
I think you have a short memory because Texas experienced one of the coldest winters on record last year and snow fell right down to the Gulf Coast. If you were in "short and sandals in January" than you were inside the house!
I remember that 'snowfall' it happened for one day, for 10 minutes, and lasted(on the ground) just as long before it melted. People got all excited because they hadn't seen snow since the 80's supposedly. Some of them said they had never seen snow their entire lives(some of my friends who have lived here all their lives). Yes, I was in shorts and sandals, on my birthday, Jan. 6, I was outside, too--my car had a flat tire and I needed it changed.
Here's the weather summary for last winter published by the National Weather Service:
Quote:
"Frequent cold fronts followed by brief warming trends, more cloudiness than usual from active weather systems, and above normal rain made the winter season from December 2009 to February 2010 the coldest for South Central Texas since the winters of 1976/1977, 1977/1978, 1978/1979, and 1983/1984. The average temperature from December 2009 to February 2010 was a tie for the 4th coldest at Del Rio; the 7th coldest at San Antonio; and a tie for the 8th coldest at Austin Mabry. The average for the state of Texas in the Winter of 2009/2010 from December to February was the 5th coldest on record, statewide, since 1895, with the average temperature statewide at 43.6 degrees, 4.5 degrees below normal and thecoldest since 1978/1979."
The winter of 2009/2010 was the first winter since 1885 at San Antonio, where the average monthly temperature for December, January and February stayed below 50 degrees for all 3 months"
That may have been the average, however, there were quite a few days where my balcony door was open and I was outside in shorts. We had a 70 degree day in Feb. and, as you have confirmed, cold here is highly unusual. It really took me a while to get used to the heat here when I moved here. I had to ease my way into this kind of heat. I'm from the N. East originally, I know what cold is. Anyone who has actually lived here would laugh at anybody who claimed that S. Texas is frigid and cold.
I got this interesting info (www.currentresults.com/Weather-Extremes/US/hottest-cities.php)
I've highlighted cities in S. Texas (I happen to currently live in one of them). Houston, btw, as it has been said, is NOT part of S. Texas. Warmest Climates
Ten major US cities have a normal daily mean temperature above 65 °F (18.3 °C):
City Daily Average °F
Phoenix, Arizona74.2
Houston, Texas68.8
Tucson, Arizona68.7 San Antonio, Texas 68.7
Austin, Texas68.5
Las Vegas, Nevada68.1
Jacksonville, Florida68.0
Los Angeles, California 66.2
Dallas - Fort Worth, Texas65.5
Long Beach, California 65.3
Eight of the largest cities in the United States have, on average, 100 or more days each year when the temperature reaches 90 °F (32.2 °C) or higher:
CityDays per Year Above 89 °F
Phoenix, Arizona169
Tucson, Arizona144
Las Vegas, Nevada133 San Antonio, Texas113
Austin, Texas109
Fresno, California108
El Paso, Texas107
Houston, Texas100
Last edited by mayalevi; 08-12-2010 at 03:03 PM..
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