Summers in Tri Cities (Johnson City, Kingsport: house, find a job, schools)

[Coley1221]

Hello!
I have been reading lots of posts about your wonderful area and I can't seem to find the answers to my specific questions so I'm hoping for some help. My hubby and I (and 3 kids) are looking to possibly move to Johnson City or Kingsport this summer. We currently live in Phoenix and recently my hubby was laid off. He hasn't been able to find a job here, and to be honest we are so tired of the unrelenting heat and immigration problems that impact our community. Since it seems relocation may be necessary, hubby has applied in JC because he has family there, and also applied to a few companies outside of Seattle since we've always dreamed of living in the pacific NW. The job in JC looks promising, but the ones in WA are still very iffy and would be much lower pay that the one in JC. We visited JC a few years ago after my in-laws retired there. It was very pretty and we were intrigued with the idea of so much green and water everywhere! The only negative we can come up with is the humidity in the summers. My in-laws swear it is only miserable for 2 months in the summer, but we are not sure if they are just saying that to sway us on on our move? We have horrendous heat from April-Oct, and we have humidity July-Sept, although I'm sure not as bad as JC. We are already 103 today!

1- How long would you say the summers are miserable in the Tri Cities? Is it always humid, or is the humidity only bad for a certain period of time? Is Kingsport any cooler than JC? Do most homes have A/C?

2- Our children are 13, 10 and 6 so schools and activities are important. I've read a lot about the schools and it seems the Kingsport and JC schools are great, but what about sports activities? Our 13 daughter is involved in club softball here in Phx. Is there competitive/club softball offered in that area? My son plays football and soccer. Lots of opportunities?

Thank you for any help you can give! I am pretty bummed about lack of opportunity in WA for us since I was hoping for a place to actually ENJOY being outside in the summer. But the more I research NE TN, it seems like we could be happy there.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by Coley1221

Hello!

1- How long would you say the summers are miserable in the Tri Cities? Is it always humid, or is the humidity only bad for a certain period of time? Is Kingsport any cooler than JC? Do most homes have A/C?

Most homes have AC
The difference in temp between the three cities is only going to vary by a degree or two usually, not enough to make a difference really.
How miserable you think the summers are probably depends a lot on what you are used to. I spent many years along the Gulf Coast so summers here are downright balmy in comparison. You might have a tougher time of it if you aren't used to any humidity at all. For me it's only bad for a few weeks around early to mid August, most of the rest of the summer I can be outside doing light activity without feeling like I'm going to turn into a sticky mess. The really nice thing I like about this area is that the evenings cool off nicely and early mornings are a great time to enjoy the weather.

Wunderground has a nice feature that breaks the temps down by the hour and also records dew points. The higher dewpoints are what you need to worry about moreso than the humidity.
History]History | Weather Underground (Scroll to bottom of the page)
"As a general rule of thumb, in the summertime, if you have a dew point of 60 to 65 that is considered a bit humid, and over 65 is considered very humid, 70 or above is considered tropical humid!" What Is The Dew Point? - WMUR New Hampshire (http://www.wmur.com/r/2920693/detail.html - broken link)
PS the temp right now is 41F

[kamoshika]

Originally Posted by Coley1221

1- How long would you say the summers are miserable in the Tri Cities? Is it always humid, or is the humidity only bad for a certain period of time? Is Kingsport any cooler than JC? Do most homes have A/C?

2- Our children are 13, 10 and 6 so schools and activities are important. I've read a lot about the schools and it seems the Kingsport and JC schools are great, but what about sports activities? Our 13 daughter is involved in club softball here in Phx. Is there competitive/club softball offered in that area? My son plays football and soccer. Lots of opportunities?

Howdy & welcome to this forum! FWIW, JC is generally a tad bit cooler than Kingsport, but like DubbleT said the difference is barely discernible.

Club softball in Kingsport: blueblazesports.com > Home

I'm not sure what JC offers in softball but they will be hosting the USA/ASA Girls' A 18-Under National Championship this summer (national AAU events are held frequently in NE Tennessee, especially in Kingsport): johnsoncityasanationals.com

Youth leagues offering football, soccer, baseball and basketball are popular in both Kingsport & JC.

Kingsport's Dobyns-Bennett HS and JC's Science Hill HS have outstanding sports programs. D-B is especially strong in football, baseball & soccer programs while Science Hill excels in basketball, baseball & golf. D-B's football team always chokes in the playoffs but they've gone undefeated in the regular season 5 of the past 8 seasons.

[mauiwowie]

I grew up in the Tri-Cities and lived in Tucson for 5 years. My wife lived in Scottsdale, so I know Phoenix pretty well.

Compared to most of the US, the Tri-Cities has a mild climate. Most home have central heat and air and when I moved the rates were excellent, much better than APS or SRP. Summers will likely feel still feel hot, but nothing compared to PHX. You will not burn yourself on car handles and steering wheels. For the most part, summers are not miserable at all unless there is some strange heat wave. You will likely feel cold in the winter, especially with the humidity. Spring and fall are really great, but can have some wild temp swings day to day.

Kamoshika covered sports well, I think. JC city schools and Kingsport city schools are great academically and athletically. I'm not as familiar with club sports though.

Overall, you will find the pace is slower and there is less to do because it is a small town. Church-going activities are extremely popular, mostly Baptist and Methodist.

COL will be MUCH lower in NE TN than Phoenix. Of the Tri-Cities I prefer JC so it is great your husband may be working there.

[Coley1221]

Thank you all so much for the responses! It helps to know how the locals feel about the humidity. The few people here that I've told about our possible move are very negative about the humidity in TN. I really hate the little humidity we have here July- Sept so I was worried, but it sounds like a trade off. More humidity there vs longer months of heat here.

DubbleT- thanks for the wunderground info, I will definitely study it!

Kamoshika- Thank you so much for the softball and sports info! It was exactly what I needed to get started on my research.

Mauiwowie- I was born and raised in Tucson and moved to Phx 5 years ago, so I know both areas well. I am looking forward to being cold in the winter without mass amounts of snow! I think the milder climate will be a lovely change. I am looking forward to the slower pace of life and lower COL. Thank you for the info!

If anyone has anything to add I would love to hear from you. This is a great source of info and I'm very thankful I found it!

Coley

[llovin]

Our mountain house is just across the NC border and talk about temperature changes! We fished in our creek in short sleeves yesterday and had snow on the ground today! We are at a higher elevation than the tri-city area so we get more snow.