Houston weather, compared to Tampa Bay area (Jacksonville: live in, moving to)

[Ives]

Thinking of moving to a rural place near North Houston, and currently live in a a rural part of the Tampa Bay area. How does the weather compare? I just read somewhere about it being cloudy!!??

Also, is the traffic going in and out of Houston as bad as Tampa?

[Texyn]

Houston obviously would have more intense traffic being that it is the larger, busier metro area of the two.

Familiar with how Northern Florida (i.e. Jacksonville, Pensacola, etc) compares with Tampa? If so, then you'll pretty much have the answer for your weather comparison.

[Gunion Powder]

Houston has cooler, wetter winters and slightly drier summers. Those are the differences in a nutshell.

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by Texyn

Houston obviously would have more intense traffic being that it is the larger, busier metro area of the two.

Familiar with how Northern Florida (i.e. Jacksonville, Pensacola, etc) compares with Tampa? If so, then you'll pretty much have the answer for your weather comparison.

I think virtually all of FL is more reliably wet and humid during summer, so Houston summers might take some adjustment even for someone coming from Jacksonville.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Probably not as much lightning in Houston.

[Texyn]

Originally Posted by Gunion Powder

I think virtually all of FL is more reliably wet and humid during summer, so Houston summers might take some adjustment even for someone coming from Jacksonville.

On the other hand, that difference isn't consistent on a year-by-year basis, and doesn't manifest most years. On top of that, the seasonal rainfall type is of a mechanism that ensures sheer randomness in distribution. Lastly, the landscape of Houston is still retains the atmosphere and vibe; the same flora survive and thrive and abundant hydrologic features are still present.

As a result, the difference, while certainly present, is too dampened to require any adjustment, or to change the generality of the climate.

[Ives]

I heard it's really cloudy all winter, is that true?

[Texyn]

Originally Posted by Ives

I heard it's really cloudy all winter, is that true?

Sunshine data was recorded officially only during a brief period from the 60s-early 70s, so can be skewed if there were any unusual weather patterns that lasted for the period. Furthermore, the system used for measurement by the US had inaccuracies compared to devices other areas of the world; you can find discussions on it at the Weather Forum if you're interested:
//www.city-data.com//weather/25...hours-us-.html

With that said, Houston is cloudier than Tampa in winter, but not in the sense commonly assumed:

• The "cloudiness" doesn't manifest necessarily in the form of constant "dreary" overcast day after day, but mostly as hourly incursions over an otherwise sunny day. For instance, a regular fog occurrence during morning that burns off in afternoon.
• Also, moisture from the Pacific can stream over the Mexican mountains into Houston, bringing cloud cover. But these are mostly cirrus clouds, which are sufficiently thin enough to allow passage of light. These clouds can often orientate in a way such that the sun's rays are blocked, while the sky overall has clarity. And these clouds are often hourly as well (manifesting mornings or late afternoons), so the "dreariness" often associated with cloud cover is not as present.
• The sunshine recorders operate on an hourly basis, so the limitation of sun rays by these clouds, even if brief, can add up quite to a lot.

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by Texyn

On the other hand, that difference isn't consistent on a year-by-year basis, and doesn't manifest most years. On top of that, the seasonal rainfall type is of a mechanism that ensures sheer randomness in distribution. Lastly, the landscape of Houston is still retains the atmosphere and vibe; the same flora survive and thrive and abundant hydrologic features are still present.

As a result, the difference, while certainly present, is too dampened to require any adjustment, or to change the generality of the climate.

Fair point and if the OP is moving to the North (east) side of town, UHI won't be a real issue.

[Texyn]

Originally Posted by Gunion Powder

Fair point and if the OP is moving to the North (east) side of town, UHI won't be a real issue.

Yeah, the key is how the average plays out. If it were a definitively dry summer pattern year-after-year (like how it is in Cali), the difference would be easier to detect (and make a defined adjustment to). But with Houston, you can have many years with numbers similar to N. Florida, only to have some drier years sprinkled in that drop the average; because of that distribution (and keeping in mind the known variability from the scatteredness of summer storms), the difference isn't immediately obvious unless data is shown.

But overall, the 2000s decade was much wetter than this new decade as a whole; that decade was just headlines of tropical storms like Allison, and hurricanes like Ike and Katrina. The years of that decade saw frequent heavy July/August rains. Spending summers in Houston at that time, I never would have expected a year like 2011 to occur. Harvey definitely made up for lost time.