garland weather (Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth: Valentine's day, how much, houses)

[deejay]

hi im considering moving to garland out of los angeles and my main concern is the weather.
i have not had much off humidity issues here and people here talk of how bad the weather is there

1. how manny months of drasctically cold and hot are there
2. taxes on a 200k home
3. electricity bills average per month
4.is there gas ...some houses dont have gas available

im going in january to check it out also what should i expect there
weather wise in jan.

thanxx

[Guingirl]

You might want to search posts by momof2dfw as she lives and has posted a TON of info on the Garland area. I know I am not looking in that area, but after reading her posts, I started to take a look out there .

[Synopsis]

Originally Posted by deejay

hi im considering moving to garland out of los angeles and my main concern is the weather.
i have not had much off humidity issues here and people here talk of how bad the weather is there

thanxx

1. how manny months of drasctically cold and hot are there
Drastically Hot weather: From mid June until mid September it is pretty uncomfortable in regards to the heat/humidity. In mid June you'll start seeing the high temps creeping up into the lower to middle 90's, maybe even near 100 on occasion. By July the fourth it will most likely be in the upper 90s and once it begins to hit 100 a "heat dome" effect sets in for the summer that usually prevents storm systems and cool fronts from penetrating the metropolitan area. This is due to what is called the "Mexican Plume" and the large amount of glass and concrete in the city which absorb the heat during the day and slowly release the heat at night. It results in night time temperatures in the summer sometimes not going below 80 degrees, which is when we really have problems with the droughts/excessively high summer temps. There is generally very little rain during this period and high temperatures will stay at 100 or above until around mid September. I have seen it as hot as 113 on Labor Day (in 2000).

In the late 90s, it wouldn't get below 95 or so until around October 10. But, in 2004 the summer was exceptionally mild with lots of rain and we saw temps hardly climbing out of the upper 80s and low 90s for much of the summer. The key to our weather is how much rain we can get to prevent the rapid heating of the ground. If we get alot of rain in the winter/spring and it can continue into the summer months, you'll see more humidity but it won't be nearly as hot. That being said, we are in a SERIOUS drought around here for the last 20 months and if we don't start getting rain soon (they "predict" a wet winter, but it has yet to materialize) it will be a long, hot summer. We lost 2 trees in our yard over the last year, and a total of about 10 trees due to the drought in the immediate neighborhood.

Drastically Cold weather:With the exception of a week or two here and there, the winters are mostly mild with an average of 50 in the day and maybe 36 or so at night. These are an average though. It can get really cold (0 degrees or so) for several days or even a week, but that never lasts more than a few days at a time. We generally don't get much snow (an inch or so) and if we get winter storms it's usually in the form of ice, which is much worse than snow. On Valentine's Day of 2003, we had a big storm system come in and dump about 10 or 11 inches of snow here in Hurst (about 30/35 miles West of Garland), which completely melted in two days.

2. taxes on a 200k home
Around 5K per year. Our taxes are around $3500/year on a 140K house.

3. electricity bills average per month
Depends on the square footage of your home, insulation, number of people living in the house, and time of year. We are a family of three, our house is 1800 square ft with good insulation, and in the summer the electric bills average around 210 a month with the thermostat/ac set at 78. In the Winter, the electric bills are usually 70/80 a month.

4.is there gas ...some houses dont have gas available
Gas is readily available where I live in Hurst. Our house is Gas/Electric. The gas bills are around 100/month in the winter/20 a month in the summer.

im going in january to check it out also what should i expect there
weather wise in jan.
The temperaturs can vary a great deal in January. It could be 75 degrees while you're here, or it could be 20 degrees. However, the winters are usually mild, and I would venture to say you'll find temperatures to be around 45 or 50 in the day to around 30 - 35 degrees at night.

[momof2dfw]

If you like the gray, damp weather of Seattle then you would love the weather here this morning. ECK!!!

Yesterday was BEAUTIFUL! Almost made everyone eat outside around the pool.

Weather in the Dallas area is a crapshot. It could be freezing cold w/ ice one day and sunny and warm the next.

[deejay]

i like to thank all the people here for the great info,
i feel better informed

thanxx a bunch ,.......................... deejay

[KewGee]

Originally Posted by deejay

i like to thank all the people here for the great info,
i feel better informed

thanxx a bunch ,.......................... deejay

I'm originally from Burbank, CA and have lived in Central Texas for 28 years. The weather in Central TX is comparable to Garland and to be perfectly honest with you, I hate the summers here. They're way too hot and way too long and since you're a CA person, I doubt you'd like them either.

We never had A/C in CA and I can remember a few nights, and I mean just a few, where sleeping may have been uncomfortable. If one lives without A/C in TX, it would be miserable. You just have to have it.

And another thing I'd recommend is a storm cellar. You might not let the tornadoes bother you but after 28 years, I'm still not used to the bad storms and finally got smart after living here for 19 years. I now have a storm cellar which gives me and many of my neighbors peace of mind. I had it poured in 1997 after the devasting tornado leveled and killed about 28 people in Jarrell (near Austin). That was it for me.

My daughter who has never feared them until she actually saw one in Saldado (north of Austin) now asks me about cellar costs. She lives in Grand Prairie and takes the whole family, pets included into the bathroom for safety as it's better than not taking some sort of cover just in case. My son lives in Fort Worth and still doesn't let them bother him. Hmmm! Maybe he just isn't showing it.

[momof2dfw]

Arctic Blast coming this week. Today was 73 but the high for Thursday is only supposed to be 38. Guess that means no more shorts and flip-flops.

[Synopsis]

Only for a day or two; then it's back into the 60s and 70s! I suppose if you actually counted up all of the days we have "true" winter down here it would probably add up to about 12 per year, which is fine with me. I'd like some snow though...