Why is Houston not a snowbird destination? (San Diego, West: RV parks, homes)

[Pink Jazz]

I was wondering, is there any particular reason why Houston isn't a popular snowbird destination, even though winter temperatures are comparable to Phoenix? Do people have incorrect perceptions that Phoenix will be as warm as Southern Florida in the winter?

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by Pink Jazz

I was wondering, is there any particular reason why Houston isn't a popular snowbird destination, even though winter temperatures are comparable to Phoenix?

Short answer: >80% chance of sunshine in Arizona in the winter months vs. ~45% in the Houston area. It's still the Valley of the Sun there while we turn into England for a couple months.

The snowbird scene in Texas is further down the coast, where it generally stays warmer and the beaches/water are higher quality. There's not very much of interest to them in or around Houston. It's a transit/stopping point for their RVs more than anything.

[AcresHomes44]

Heat & Humidity.

[mikeyyc]

And geography. Houston is south of essentially nothing in Canada. Phoenix has Calgary/Edmonton and extensive golf. Houston is south of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Far smaller populations.

[Thoreau424]

Snow-damaged brains. They can't help it.

[jtothemak]

Why go to Houston when you can go a few extra hours down to the valley that already has the culture of being a snowbird destination with a change of scenery. Cost is probably also a factor along with climate. Snowbirds are looking to escape cold/wet weather so destinations like the valley and Arizona are more of dry climate vs our still wet and humid climate of Houston.

Also keep in mind a lot of snowbirds are RV travelers and what RV parks have been built around Houston tend to get filled up with transit plant workers.

However I would bet if a large developer built a large snowbird 55+ community it would probably attract that crowd to Houston with all it has to offer of being a large city.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by jtothemak

However I would bet if a large developer built a large snowbird 55+ community it would probably attract that crowd to Houston with all it has to offer of being a large city.

This isn't a demographic that's really traveling cross country to do the mainly indoor-oriented stuff that Houston's amenities are built around. You'll see a lot of overlap between the snowbird destinations and retirement destinations. Houston is neither. This is a work and convention destination that has a major sporting event every once in a while.

Yes, you CAN golf year round here, for the most part, but you can do that in a lot of places with less humidity, not swatting mosquitoes in January etc.

[LocalPlanner]

While Houston has a decent chance of a good freeze or two every year, plus a number of just plain cold days, the Valley rarely gets freezes and many fewer unpleasantly cold days. It's just more reliable for warm pleasant weather. And, it's cheap. So, that's where they go.

[SoCalSunnyShine]

Has zilch to do with wetness and humidity. People wouldn't be flocking to Florida if that were the case. The answer simply is that it gets downright cold in Houston, despite what the average stats will tell you. Take it from someone who recently moved to San Diego this past winter, and immediately noticed the difference.

There's no sort of high mountain range or any sort of geographic barrier to stop arctic cold fronts from reaching so far south in the Eastern US. So as a result, while Houston has similar winter average temperatures as Phoenix, there also is very high standard deviation that can result in temperatures much colder than would ever be seen in Phoenix. Case in point, Houston has seen a temperature as low as 19F this past winter, whereas Phoenix hasn't even dropped below 29F since the 21st century began. On top of that, Houston will see quite a few winter days where the high fails to reach 50F, something almost never seen in Phoenix, along with days of snow/wintry precip.

And it isn't just Houston. The entire Eastern US deals with occurences of winter extremes far colder than expected for the latitude. Yes, even peninsular Florida deals with it too, just that their temperatures still end up in a relative warm/comfortable range. In contrast, winter temperatures in the Western US are far more reliable and consistent.

BUT, these cold days typically are brief, though, and not as severe as places farther north. Houston can still serve as a decent respite, just don't expect it to be as reliable of a snowbird destination as Phoenix, SoCal, and Florida. At least not without global warming.

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by AcresHomes44

Heat & Humidity.

Snowbirds come in the winter, so there isn't extreme heat and humidity during that time of year. Plus, that isn't stopping the snowbirds from coming to Southern Florida.