Texas Is Way Too Dry During Summer (San Antonio, Austin: home, price)

[KathrynAragon]

All I can tell you is that I live near Tyler and everything is still green around here from all the rain we got in the fall. Lakes are full and water levels are healthy. Yes, it's hot but I expect it to be hot - it's summer in Texas. It is what it is. I'd rather deal with hot summer days than lots of rainy, overcast days much of the year, or heavy snow and ice in the winter.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by VIRAL

It is much better to have the dry season in winter than in summer (in terms of maintaining greenery). Since winter is cooler than summer, evaporation off the ground is weaker, so the same amount of rainfall that can dry off in an instant in summer can cause long periods of ground sogginess in winter. Thus, so far the rainfall is of a decent enough amount, plant greenery can be maintained in winter; this is more true the cooler the winter climate is. The higher evaporation in summer then gets cancelled out/or reversed, in the rainy peak.

With that said, the Indian Monsoon is too extreme for year-round greenery in many areas; the rainfall is basically confined to summer, and, on top of that, there is severe periods of heat before the monsoon arrives. Very warm-hot temps are seen in winter as well, and, combined with little rainfall, can be stressful to plants. It is so bad, that the trees evolved to be "tropical-deciduous," wherein leaves are dropped during the "dry season." Places with more significant rainfall in the "dry season" are able to maintain lush character year-round, such as Tampa:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tampa,_Florida#Climate



New Orleans is "dry" in March and October relative to the rest of the year; both months still receive quite a bit of rainfall. New Orleans is wetter in March than Austin in terms of totals, and is only slightly drier in October; Austin, however, has more frequent March rain days, but less frequent October rain days.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans#Climate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin,_Texas#Climate

Rain during the winter is actually more beneficial than the summer, for the reasons you listed above. Rain during the winter counts more according to Koppen climate models. The reason why is less evaporation. So, that's why Los Angeles with only 15 inches of rain isn't classified as semi-arid but instead Mediterranean. When Los Angeles gets a good soaking rain in January or February, that can last several months. When Phoenix gets a soaking rain in July, a lot is lost to evaporation. That causes high humidity which serves no good. Humidity causes things to be uncomfortable and serves no purpose in greening things up. Basically, winter rain is more "efficient" than summer rain.

So, if you want to maximize greenery and also sunshine, a Mediterranean climate is the only suitable one.

To me an ideal climate would be around 5 inches of rain December through March, around 2 inches in April and November, and 0 inches the rest of the year. 24 inches which would be plenty to have good ground moisture throughout the year.

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by cBach

Although it was hot on my deck tonight, there were no mosquitoes. No mosquitoes = heaven. In Louisiana you can never go outside past 5 PM year round. If you do, you will get eaten alive within 30 seconds. Yuck, I will take dry heat over humidity any day.

So when are you moving to the desert, because Austin doesn't have dry heat.

But more humid heat for me. My skin is amazing.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Gunion Powder

So when are you moving to the desert, because Austin doesn't have dry heat.

But more humid heat for me. My skin is amazing.

I'm from Louisiana. This is dry heat for me! :

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

All I can tell you is that I live near Tyler and everything is still green around here from all the rain we got in the fall. Lakes are full and water levels are healthy. Yes, it's hot but I expect it to be hot - it's summer in Texas. It is what it is. I'd rather deal with hot summer days than lots of rainy, overcast days much of the year, or heavy snow and ice in the winter.

Yeah, the trees in most parts of the state are doing okay due to the extra rain we received, but in a normal year (whatever that is), with this low amount of precipitation over the past two months, things would not be looking so good. Have you ever had to rake up leaves in 100 degree weather? Not fun.

I don't want us to be the Pacific Northwest. Just a few more inches in summer and a few less in winter would be nice.

[Gunion Powder]

Originally Posted by cBach

I'm from Louisiana. This is dry heat for me! :

I'm from Southeast Texas. Austin still isn't dry.

And this also isn't a normal year. What are you going to do if Austin has a wet summer next year and the year after that?

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Gunion Powder

I'm from Southeast Texas. Austin still isn't dry.

And this also isn't a normal year. What are you going to do if Austin has a wet summer next year and the year after that?

No big deal really. A wet summer in Austin is nothing like a wet summer in Louisiana.

[Glenn Ross]

When I was a line manager I told the people who report to me that they could come to me and complain about anything--as long as it was in our power to change it. For example, entry level staff were given company cars and I told them never to come complain to me about the color. They were given a "free" car and I wasn't going to waste my time on that kind of complaint. Now if the complaint or suggestion was something that we could influence, I'd charge the hill for them.

The weather post about how TX is getting ripped off reminds me of those complaints i don't want to hear. And yea, i get that it's not a complaint. I've lived in TX since 1971 and I don't complain about the drought, the heat, the humidity, or the blue northers. It is what it is and complaining about the weather ain't gonna change it. I've learned to cope with weather extremes by ignoring it and focusing on other things.

By the way, one of my favorite quotes from TX pioneer days is, "Only fools and newcomers predict the weather in Texas!"

To the OP, don't take this as being negative. I'm just saying it's irrelevant to me. Might be of benefit to some who are geekier about weather than I. (And I am to a certain extent.)

[VIRAL]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

All I can tell you is that I live near Tyler and everything is still green around here from all the rain we got in the fall. Lakes are full and water levels are healthy. Yes, it's hot but I expect it to be hot - it's summer in Texas. It is what it is. I'd rather deal with hot summer days than lots of rainy, overcast days much of the year, or heavy snow and ice in the winter.

Yes, but why is that the case? Why so robbed of rain, even though so very humid?

[VIRAL]

Originally Posted by cBach

Rain during the winter is actually more beneficial than the summer, for the reasons you listed above. Rain during the winter counts more according to Koppen climate models. The reason why is less evaporation. So, that's why Los Angeles with only 15 inches of rain isn't classified as semi-arid but instead Mediterranean. When Los Angeles gets a good soaking rain in January or February, that can last several months. When Phoenix gets a soaking rain in July, a lot is lost to evaporation. That causes high humidity which serves no good. Humidity causes things to be uncomfortable and serves no purpose in greening things up. Basically, winter rain is more "efficient" than summer rain.

So, if you want to maximize greenery and also sunshine, a Mediterranean climate is the only suitable one.

To me an ideal climate would be around 5 inches of rain December through March, around 2 inches in April and November, and 0 inches the rest of the year. 24 inches which would be plenty to have good ground moisture throughout the year.

Nope, humid tropical/subtropical climates with evenly spread rainfall are the best for greenery/sunshine (see Miami, Tampa, etc). Remember, the "dry season" is relative; winter rain totals in those Florida cities are decent, just that they pale in comparison to summer totals. Many US South cities get more rain in winter than LA does; they also get much more rain in summer. High summer rain, when combined with high enough winter totals, can completely cancel evapotranspiration's degradation on plants.

Los Angeles barely avoids being semi-arid; the Med classification comes more from the rain pattern, rather than total, anyways.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles#Climate