Has Spring Ever Stayed Stuck in the Cold Like This? (Houston: home, shop)

[shyguylh]

Originally Posted by Komeht

It's been just about the nicest stretch of decent weather I've experienced in my lifetime. No seering heat, no severe cold snaps for the last 7 months. If it were like this all the time in Texas it would be absolutely heavenly.

I have absolutely no idea what the OP is complaining about.

Let me make it clear what I'm complaining about and getting clarity about--I want the weather to be NORMAL. I don't care what anyone LIKES, it should be NORMAL, not so freaking wacko. I hope I'm not being ugly here, but I feel a need to be somewhat firm.

Let me explain, to wit: if we lived in Alaska (I know we don't, but bear with me), and I chose to move or live there because it was normally a cold place and I liked cold, and it was in the 70s in December, while everyone else was being all jubilant, I'd be complaining because it was not acting characteristic for the place, and I moved there to get COLD weather. Maybe you would be someone who liked that it wasn't cold and you were like "wow, this feels good, I don't care what's normal, this feels good"--well I DO care what normal is, it was the basis of my moving there, and I don't CARE what you like, this is Alaska, and it's SUPPOSED to be cold in December. If you like it in the 70s in December, there's the Bahamas for you, but this ain't the Bahamas.

That's sort of the case here. When I moved to Texas, I knew that winter was coolish, that's fine, but we aren't a place with winter that drags and drags and drags until May like, say, upstate NY or Minnesota etc. I'm accustomed to it being in the 70s PERMANENTLY by this time of the year, not with it lolly-gagging around and continuing to backslide into January-like weather. This spring is taking its freaking sweet time to run winter out of here on its butt, it's as if we're in upstate NY or Chicago, basically I'm getting ripped off and cheated, frankly. If I lived in New York or Michigan I'd be out-of-line to complain, because this is probably normal for them. It's NOT normal for us.

To me, normal is EVERYTHING. For it to not be normal is as if, say, I'm a math teacher and am now being told that 2 + 5 is 17 or if I woke up one day and like the scenes in "It's a Wonderful Life" everything is totally upside down and I'm begging Clarence (the angel) to make everything "normal" again. It's what you have every right to EXPECT. If it sounds like I'm being a bit dramatic about this, so be it, that's fine, but I think it's wrong to want (say) year-round 70s or such unless you're in an area where that's the going rate. If you enjoy it, fine, just understand it's not NORMAL and understand how someone who moved there for cooler temperatures (in the Alaska example) would be irritated.. If you hate hot summers, that's fine, but if we never got above 85 degrees even in July, that's an aberration and not something you should expect or ask to continue. I hate cold, but if I lived in Alaska as I mentioned (or North Dakota etc) I'd understand that Decembers are cold there and adjust my expectations accordingly. I wouldn't be complaining "why does it have to be so cold here?" That would be like asking "why does a dog have a tail" or "why does Beyoncé sing R&B" if I like country music. Hello--Beyoncé isn't Alan Jackson.

I'm just asking if anyone else had noticed it being colder this spring or if it was just me, and I was also asking--as if my asking will change anything, I know--that this area starts acting normal and quits acting so weird and like a mentally deranged lunatic, frankly. I moved here expecting that by late April we wouldn't be having 38'F nights anymore. This ain't Minnesota.

[TX75007]

Yes, this has been a cold spring. We will get another cold front Tuesday. Spring planting has been delayed across much of TX and the South. Further north, the snow has killed a lot of calves and sheep. Canada and Alaska MIGHT get above freezing this week.

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by Midessan

There have always been horrible events and crazy weather. It would be a strange year if there wasn't.

Eh, we're only 3 months in and have experienced quite a lot.

[John26]

If this is global warming where we get cooler weather, and the eastern seaboard gets the hurricanes instead of us then I'm happy to have it.

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by larrytxeast

Let me make it clear what I'm complaining about and getting clarity about--I want the weather to be NORMAL. I don't care what anyone LIKES, it should be NORMAL, not so freaking wacko. I hope I'm not being ugly here, but I feel a need to be somewhat firm.

Let me explain, to wit: if we lived in Alaska (I know we don't, but bear with me), and I chose to move or live there because it was normally a cold place and I liked cold, and it was in the 70s in December, while everyone else was being all jubilant, I'd be complaining because it was not acting characteristic for the place, and I moved there to get COLD weather. Maybe you would be someone who liked that it wasn't cold and you were like "wow, this feels good, I don't care what's normal, this feels good"--well I DO care what normal is, it was the basis of my moving there, and I don't CARE what you like, this is Alaska, and it's SUPPOSED to be cold in December. If you like it in the 70s in December, there's the Bahamas for you, but this ain't the Bahamas.

That's sort of the case here. When I moved to Texas, I knew that winter was coolish, that's fine, but we aren't a place with winter that drags and drags and drags until May like, say, upstate NY or Minnesota etc. I'm accustomed to it being in the 70s PERMANENTLY by this time of the year, not with it lolly-gagging around and continuing to backslide into January-like weather. This spring is taking its freaking sweet time to run winter out of here on its butt, it's as if we're in upstate NY or Chicago, basically I'm getting ripped off and cheated, frankly. If I lived in New York or Michigan I'd be out-of-line to complain, because this is probably normal for them. It's NOT normal for us.

To me, normal is EVERYTHING. For it to not be normal is as if, say, I'm a math teacher and am now being told that 2 + 5 is 17 or if I woke up one day and like the scenes in "It's a Wonderful Life" everything is totally upside down and I'm begging Clarence (the angel) to make everything "normal" again. It's what you have every right to EXPECT. If it sounds like I'm being a bit dramatic about this, so be it, that's fine, but I think it's wrong to want (say) year-round 70s or such unless you're in an area where that's the going rate. If you enjoy it, fine, just understand it's not NORMAL and understand how someone who moved there for cooler temperatures (in the Alaska example) would be irritated.. If you hate hot summers, that's fine, but if we never got above 85 degrees even in July, that's an aberration and not something you should expect or ask to continue. I hate cold, but if I lived in Alaska as I mentioned (or North Dakota etc) I'd understand that Decembers are cold there and adjust my expectations accordingly. I wouldn't be complaining "why does it have to be so cold here?" That would be like asking "why does a dog have a tail" or "why does Beyoncé sing R&B" if I like country music. Hello--Beyoncé isn't Alan Jackson.

I'm just asking if anyone else had noticed it being colder this spring or if it was just me, and I was also asking--as if my asking will change anything, I know--that this area starts acting normal and quits acting so weird and like a mentally deranged lunatic, frankly. I moved here expecting that by late April we wouldn't be having 38'F nights anymore. This ain't Minnesota.

I'v Seen cool springs and warm springs and freakishly hot springs in my years in Texas (all of then). I've seen extremely wet springs and springs dusty so dry you wish they'd add a bit more vermouth. I've seen springs with hundreds of tornados and seen springs with none. I've seen springs with multiple hail storm events that destroyed cars and roofs and springs so pleasantly placid you'd think extreme weather never happens here. In otherwords I have no idea what a normal Texas spring is. But when the gods get together and feel its time to throw us some good weather for an extended period of time my reaction is to say "thank you very much, yes we'd like some more."

[124c41]

Not sure if you are a native Texan, Komeht, but you have just about summed up Texas weather. I was born and raised there, and have, too seen wacky weather. I have pictures of me and my Mother back in the 60's with a foot of snow, building a snowman. We lived out by Intercontinental Airport, so it wasn't that far north. That never happened again the whole time I was growing up. I can remember many Christmas, and Thanksgiving dinners being cooked with the AC blowing like a banshee because it was a blast furnace outside. Don't know if you remember the " blizzard" of 2004 when Texas Highways magazine ran a front page picture showing a dusting of snow down at Galveston? That is Texas weather. One thing we don't have where we live now is, those " blue northers". My wife and I miss the first ones of the season, when on those broiling Texas days, one comes on you, and it's like someone opening the ice-box door. So cool. Of course, by the next day, it might be back to 97 degrees. Ahhh, Texas weather.

[KathrynAragon]

I thought everyone knew - we're in the grips of global warming! Wait...ummmm....

[Trainwreck20]

Okay, I did not bother to read past the original post, I am just going to answer the question - yes, spring has often been feeble in its attempt to establish itself. Seven years is in no ways a good basis for defining 'normal', when in fact normal is a range (not a set number) anyway. In 2006, we hit 99 degrees on April 17th. In 2008, we hit 47 degrees for a low. The median temperature for April is right about 61 F.

[happycrow]

Komeht is on it. There are very few places in the US with the sort of predictable weather the OP wants: San Francisco and Juneau being more or less among them. Otherwise, I'm not complaining -- the weather has been great, and both my roses and my bamboo are thriving!

ENSO (pacific decadal oscillation, that thing that gives us El Ninos) is neutral this year. That means Texas is likely to see a little drought relief this year (which is good! Originally ENSO was looking to be in La Nina mode, which would have meant more drought). ENSO being neutral will result in Texan weather that is no surprise to old-timers, but which will seem unusual to the rest of us, as it has been in strong El Nino/La Nina weather patterns for most of the last couple decades.

Climate Prediction Center - Monitoring & Data: ENSO Impacts on the U.S. - Previous Events

[War Beagle]

Originally Posted by larrytxeast

Let me disclose a few things: first, I tend to be anal retentive about the weather, insomuch that I despise the "if you don't like the weather in [fill in the blank of the name of the state], wait 5 minute & it'll change" aspect.

LOL. This is one of the statements that bugs me the most. I have heard this everywhere I have lived and everywhere the people who say it think it is unique to their location. I even heard this in Bakersfield, CA which has quite possibly some of the most predictable weather in the entire country. People here in the Houston area say it too and it's generally a laughable statement in this area. With the exception of a pop-up thunderstorm in the summer, or a tropical storm event, the weather in south Texas is usually extremely predictable. However, this spring IS highly unusual.

That said, I lived in Oklahoma where that saying is 100% true. I imagine it might apply to northeast and northwest TX too.