Weather for real (Dallas, Converse, San Diego: 2015, movies, tornadoes)

[lepoisson]

I moved here from Missouri and the weather is the main reason I'm moving back to the Midwest. But since you are coming from SoCal, it won't be as big of a change because you are used to not really having seasons. The summer will be hotter (and even unbearable for certain people), but the winter will be fairly similar.

Honestly, the weather is one of the worst qualities of Texas. No one moves here because they like the weather, but they will move here because of no winter weather.

[2URGSE]

Originally Posted by Michelealohabound

Thank you! Would you compare it to summer in Arizona or Lake in the summer?

Arizona is hotter temperature wise, but the heat is a bit drier than here. I think once the heat index gets to 95F+, it's starts getting unpleasant to be doing outdoor activities. Like others have said, it's all relative and depends on your level of heat tolerance.

If you're used to doing all sorts of outdoor activities during the summer in SoCal, you might need to adjust some of those expectations once you move here.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Michelealohabound

Thank you! Would you compare it to summer in Arizona or Lake in the summer?

Arizona is much drier. Miami, NO and Houston are consistently much more humid during hot days. As others have mentioned here it is a mix or hot and dry, hot and semi-humid and occasionally hot and humid.

If one actually pays attention most days around here when the temp. crosses about 97F the relative humidity falls into the 30s. Then the relative humidity will rebound at night.

[serger]

Originally Posted by Michelealohabound

We are planing on buying beautiful house and having a backyard with pool for out side entering
We love to swim and enjoy laying out by the pool reading a book and enjoying a cocktail. I'm thinking
As long as you have a beautiful home with a pool the summer would be enjoyable? Or also if it's so terriblely hot take a trip for a few weeks to Hawaii or the Caribbean? Right ? I'm hoping to hear some good helpful responses because our plan is to move this summer from California to Texas

Well, you are moving from Southern California to North Texas, so chances (~100%) are you are not going to like the weather.
Mid June to end of September (or even longer) it is very hot. The worst part is that it doesn't really cool down at night.
Pool is nice and the pool season is very long. But you need to be mostly in the pool not by it, lol.

Direct flights to Caribbean are not very many, but there are some choices. To Hawaii it is going to be expensive compared to California.


About the other seasons, regardless of what you may hear here, severe weather is common here, and North texas is in the tornado alley. Yes, you can have much worse tornadoes on average, say in Oklahoma, but that's not the point. Large hail is quite common so keep the garage clear for your cars!

[Johnhw2]

Those claiming you cant stay outside for more than ten minutes in summer should visit a few golf courses here. They will be full with people who play four hours plus in the summer. Is it pleasant? No its golf, which is an un natural act to some but if you enjoy it as thousands do you play all summer here.

I agree that weather is not the reason most move here but snow birds flock to the Valley area in far southern Texas during winters so they come part time for the weather. They don't come for the scenic vistas either. I considered NJ, a state I lived in 6 years. to be the prettiest place Ive lived. But I would much rather live in Texas because I value playing golf more. In the winters you cant play golf, courses close. In summer they are hot and busy here. I play year around here, but always find a few heavy rain or super cold days I cant play here. Might miss playing due to weather 20 days a year out of 365. I like those odds compared to snowy places where its near freezing a quarter of the year or so.

[TheotherMarie]

Howdy. I'm from San Diego originally, so I know first hand what your weather is like.

Summers can be fairly brutal here. From about May through September, you're looking at a lot of days into the low 100s, plus humidity. It starts to cool down in October.
You know those cool California nights you're used to? Kiss them goodbye. It doesn't cool down at night in the summer. You'll be running the A/C 24/7 all summer long.
If you've got a pool, that's awesome, and you'll use it into September. But there are a lot of bugs here too in the summer, so be prepared for that. (Lots of mosquitoes and some areas have West Nile virus so wear bug spray.)

Winter is my favorite time here. There are very few bugs or snakes, and it generally doesn't get too cold. We'll get a day or two of snow, and it's pretty, then it melts away.
We had an ice storm a few winters ago. That wasn't fun. Cars skidding all over the place.
But in winter you get some nice days that in California would be good beach weather -- in the 70s or low 80s with sun.
In non-summer months, the weather changes all the time. For example, we've just had weather in the 40s, and starting today, it's going to be in the 70s and 80s for a few days. Then dip into the 50s, then back up to the 70s and 80s.

We do get some killer thunderstorms with tornadoes. The tornado warnings scare the poop out of me.
And we do have earthquakes now, due to the fracking. This area never used to have earthquakes before.
Small by Cal standards though.

Spring is nice. My allergies tend to flare. If you have allergies, you'll probably notice it. Even locals have allergy problems then.

Fall is lovely too. Doesn't last long enough.

Just generally speaking, we don't have much scenery here. No beach (the lakes are not the beach, and don't let anybody tell you they are). But we do have shopping, and restaurants galore. There is some nice country scenery too.
Plus, there are two airports so if you need a getaway in summer, it's easy.

[mSooner]

After hating and hating summers here, I'm finally starting to get used to them, so there is that.

It is wonderful to be able to use the pool for so long, although in August the pool itself gets so warm that no one wants to swim in the heat of the day :/

You'll have colder parts of winter than you are used to and Mid-July through Mid-September is going to be really hard on you. People just stay inside.

Otherwise, it isn't so bad. It averages out to a lot of mild weather. At the same time, it changes wildly too! Cold one day to warm the next. Or even from morning to evening. That's the result of being on the great plains.

As for severe weather season, I love it! Well, as long as I'm not suffering property damage. Hail may get you at some point, but you are still very unlikely to be hit by a tornado. I really love a good spring thunderstorm though--it's quite a show!

[lepoisson]

Originally Posted by mSooner

It is wonderful to be able to use the pool for so long, although in August the pool itself gets so warm that no one wants to swim in the heat of the day :/

My apartment does something pretty clever. They get a huge block of ice (about 2' x 2' x 2') and toss it into the pool. It seems to cool the water a few degrees and takes a day or two to completely melt. They said they get it from an ice market.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

I have lived here 4+ yrs, arriving at the end of July. There is almost always a good breeze to help keep you cool. I cut my own grass for the exercise and I usually finish up right before noon. Clearly I don't think it's unbearable. I lived most of my life in New Orleans which is truly miserable. I was in Salt Lake City for 11 yrs before moving here. I don't notice a lot of bugs. I also use Off when cutting the grass.

[mSooner]

My apartment does something pretty clever. They get a huge block of ice (about 2' x 2' x 2') and toss it into the pool. It seems to cool the water a few degrees and takes a day or two to completely melt. They said they get it from an ice market.

Need to look into this. We tried frozen milk jugs last year. Didn't do a thing