Moving to Temple (Austin, Belton, Salado: tornadoes, living in, horse)

[mtnwmn]

This is a common question, but I'm considering moving to Temple and want to know what to expect. I have horses, dogs and cats, and I think Temple is more appropriate for them than Seattle, where I am at now. We're originally from CO mountains and Seattle is a little too rainy and crowded.

But, I'm worried about tornadoes, drought and fires, Yes, most of my information so far comes from national media, but are these serious concerns?

[Moonlady]

We are in the worst drought of the last century. Last summer was particularly bad and with everything being so dry, and conditions just right, we did have quite a few wildfires, but none near Temple that I am aware of (I'm 60 miles south in Austin). We've since had quite a bit of rainfall and things have stabilized somewhat but they are predicting this drought cycle to potentially last up to 10 years. Hard to say, everything is still green right now.

Tornadoes are always a concern especially in the spring when storms tend to be more violent, but they are pretty random and fatalities are rare. Most people know to heed warnings and take shelter when one is sighted. I've lived here 35 years and they haven't scared me off.

The drought was pretty trying last year though - the dryness combined with intense heat was almost too much to bear. Hard to say whether we'll have another record breaking year or things will be somewhat more normal which is tolerable. Just something to be aware of and prepared to deal with.

[FourFiftyFour]

Temple is not too bad.. there are often things going on in Belton which is the next city over. However, it is nothing like living in the beautiful mountains or somewhere that is very green. Texas can get really dry (especially last summer) and the heat can be very brutal. Sometimes animals (especially horses) have to really acclimate to the kind of heat we have here.

Tornadoes can still be a danger- but we do not have as many as Oklahoma does. I would be more concerned about drought out of the three concerns you have.

I am in the other boat- I can not wait to get out of Texas and get somewhere that has beautiful land and terrain and have been considering Colorado, North Carolina, Washington, etc lol

[FourFiftyFour]

Oh I forgot to add- do you show your horses? There are a lot of rodeos and western style riding, but english (I do three-day eventing) is a little bit more scarce in Central Texas, but can point you towards some directions if you do any English riding =)

[Willsson]

tornadoes, drought and fires

Are these serious concerns... YES ! ! ! But not a concern that causes restriction to your usual lifestyle As we've seen in the news this year, tornadoes can occur most anywhere east of the rockies. Droughts can occur anywhere though more especially in the central U.S. Last year was a tough one in central Texas but the weather trend this year is nothing like that of last year when we had a hard freeze then it got hot. This year had no hard freeze and the weather has been milder. From my multi-decades of living in Texas... nothing is typical. Nor is it unusual, though last year was so hot even the weeds died. While wild fires can occur, they are not rampant, unless out of control.

You might visit the Wildfire Ranch Arena for a contact on horse info. Wildfire is located in Salado, about 12 miles south of Temple.

http://www.newhorse.com/page/horsebo....html?page=all