Texas Is The Ultimate Climate Rip-off (Indiana, Indianapolis, humid, western)
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I think the northern panhandle has a great climate. I love the dry, variable winters with a decent amount of snow, the stormy variable springs, the hot summers with dry heat, and nice dry sunny falls. I find it still too warm and slightly too wet, but it is a very good climate. Places like Lubbock or midland or El Paso still have good, not great, but good climates that I would easily live in. Not to forget the scenery. The rest of the state is awful with hot, humid summers and warm winters and tons of rain and humidity with little snow. I've traveled through Texas in the summer and found 100 in midland not so bad but 100 in Austin and Houston was hell. Houston, and the gulf coast, have some of the country's worst climates for me. Pretty much only the west coast and Florida is worse. Brownsville is drier, and therefore slightly better, but still awful. And the scenery is painfully boring with forest for miles on end. The western part has places like big bens or Guadalupe which have great scenery, as does the panhandle. While I like parts of the state, much of it is abysmal.
100 in Abilene feels a hell of a lot better than 100 in Denton. I never complained when it was 100 in Abilene, though to be fair I went to the pool several times the summer I lived there But even then, it was a relative dry heat though not as dry as Arizona. That's too hot and too dry for me to stand.
Okay, I know Texas is WAY too hot in summer, but as on the opening page suggesting that Dallas has too cold winters well... they are similar to coastal Northern Spain that feels like a distant dream for a Scandinavian... I think the main issue with Texas is that it's too near the sea, causing the humidity, while at the same time being so near the tropics that the moderation does not properly arrive even in coastal areas. A lose-lose situation. But isn't the El Paso climate relatively okay?
Low humidity for Texas, little rainfall, comfortable winter days and summer nights often going down towards the mid 60's?
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Originally Posted by lommaren
Okay, I know Texas is WAY too hot in summer, but as on the opening page suggesting that Dallas has too cold winters well... they are similar to coastal Northern Spain that feels like a distant dream for a Scandinavian... I think the main issue with Texas is that it's too near the sea, causing the humidity, while at the same time being so near the tropics that the moderation does not properly arrive even in coastal areas. A lose-lose situation. But isn't the El Paso climate relatively okay?
Low humidity for Texas, little rainfall, comfortable winter days and summer nights often going down towards the mid 60's?
El Paso is starting to suffer from UHI, and their normal lows in July and August are in the low 70's now
Okay, I know Texas is WAY too hot in summer, but as on the opening page suggesting that Dallas has too cold winters well... they are similar to coastal Northern Spain that feels like a distant dream for a Scandinavian.
The averages in Dallas are mild, the problem is that the weather is too variable, a 70F day can be followed by a 35F day.
Quote:
I think the main issue with Texas is that it's too near the sea, causing the humidity, while at the same time being so near the tropics that the moderation does not properly arrive even in coastal areas.
Actually, a coastal location near the tropics/warm waters ensure moderation, in terms of temperature and precipitation. The only thing that would be extreme is the mugginess, and, even then, the heavy rain, and cloud cover would take care of it.
The averages in Dallas are mild, the problem is that the weather is too variable, a 70F day can be followed by a 35F day.
Actually, a coastal location near the tropics/warm waters ensure moderation, in terms of temperature and precipitation. The only thing that would be extreme is the mugginess, and, even then, the heavy rain, and cloud cover would take care of it.
Well I can see your point regarding maritime moderation when compared to Arizona et cetera, but the dew points around Galveston in summer can be quite monstrous though? I guess Dallas' winters are relatively frustrating in predictability, but also a welcome break from the intense heat and humidity seen elsewhere. Down in Austin, San Antonio and in particular towards the border it could be humid heat even in January right?
It has great winters, and can get very hot during that season (it has seen triple digit temps even in Feb). The problem is that summers are too hot and dry given humidity levels.
Yep, almost everywhere in the state is a rip-off in far too many degrees. Just to underscore, I'm at South Padre right now, a coastal location on a warm humid sea that can't even get up to 2 inches of rain average in July and August. TF?
Most climates have their good parts and bad parts, although the Canary Islands may be an exception.
I lived in NYC for 15 years, and I much prefer the climate in Texas, where I grew up and where I live now. It is very hot and humid in the summer, especially east of I-35, but that lasts only about 2-3 months. Dallas has worse weather than NYC in July and August, but better weather the other 10 months.
We do get cold weather in the winter in Dallas, but it alternates with weather in the 60’s and 70’s. Some people may complain that that’s too unpredictable, but I love it. Half the days in January are cold enough for a fire, half are warm enough for short sleeves. We get snow, sleet, or ice on occasion, but it never lasts more than a day or two, and if it sticks on the streets, nobody goes to work or school. In New York if it snows, it lasts for weeks or months and you can’t wear good shoes because you have to wade through slush—and that’s before the snow turns black and nasty from street mud being splashed on it. Plus in New York, you have to wear a coat or jacket every single day for months on end. If I had lived in Buffalo or Rochester where there’s constant snow cover and you can cross-country ski in the parks, I probably would have liked the winters better. In NYC, they were just long, unpleasant seasons of nastiness. Texas is not so bad.
I agree that Houston weather is actually very nice. Love the summer rainfall too.
But Dallas and Austin are definitely not the worse when it comes to 100+ temps without a drop of rain. Want to see the worse? Come over to Inland California (Fresno, Bakersfield, San Bernardino) where there will be 115 degree heat waves without a single cloud in the sky. Where summer rain is as rare as snow in Florida. I don't care how dry it may be in Inland California; when the temps are that high and there's never any rain to cool things off, it's brutal, much more brutal than Houston.
Yep, almost everywhere in the state is a rip-off in far too many degrees. Just to underscore, I'm at South Padre right now, a coastal location on a warm humid sea that can't even get up to 2 inches of rain average in July and August. TF?
It sure is better than San Bernardino, Bakersfield, Fresno where the temps can get to 115 and summer rain is as rare as snow in Florida.
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But even then, it was a relative dry heat though not as dry as Arizona. That's too hot and too dry for me to stand.
