Weather

I thought I'd put up a little post on TX weather today while I still can. That is, I expect pretty soon it will be incredibly hot here and I'll be counting the months until fall. But for now, I can talk some smack and run some numbers.

A family member in Utah warned me that the weather here "is only nice for two weeks a year." Anecdotally, I'm not complaining right now. It's been about 80 degrees F or a bit under all week, with evenings in the low 70's, perfect for poolside grilling. Meanwhile, my brother's home in Vermont and my family in Utah all saw snow this week. But, I saw some rare snow flurries last winter, too. So, let's look at some admittedly imperfect evidence, using long-term averages from Weather.com.

For purposes of this comparison, I'll count ideal temperatures as highs between 50-80. By that measure, I see ideal weather from October 22 - April 21, exactly half of the year. Yes, there are occasional cold days in the winter, and this winter was worse than most, but the average high never drops below 62 degrees, so it's generally quite tolerable for six months straight.

My hometown, in contrast, is over 80 from June 3 - September 27, or 117 days, and below 50 from Nov 15 - Mar 1, another 105 days. In other words, that leaves just 143 days within my somewhat arbitrary "ideal" range, about 40 days less than here. Interestingly enough, however, the ideal range where my brother lives is 4/17 - 10/26, which is about a week longer than where I live--and is almost Texas' inverse in terms of the calendar. Whereas I never get below 50, he never gets above 80, and when it finally gets warm enough to be tolerable there, it's just becoming too hot where I live!**

Upshot #1: The badness of the weather here is overrated. I've enjoyed many pleasant days between Jan - April, and the thought of glorious weather from mid-fall on should help a bit when the heat drags on and on like the cold does back home.

Upshot #2: My brother and I could approximate a Mediterranean climate by retiring to each other's homes for half of the year. Buying two homes under this strategy would still be cheaper than buying one home in Northern California.

Upshot #3: Utah kin wanting to visit a distant brother/son/friend in April or October can't go wrong (though I suggest New England for fall foliage and Texas for spring wildflowers). But if you must come here in the summer, we have three a/c units, a pool, and a gameroom, and we still promise to heap on the bbq and Southern hospitality. And I hear my brother has a pretty good ski mountain behind his house if you accidentally visit there in January.

**Yes, I am aware of several limitations in my methodology. For instance, Utah has mountains to escape the heat and less humidity. Utah also has more below 50 days in the margins, though, since it never averages close to that cold here. The temperature here also varies less between night and day here and in Vermont than in Utah's higher, dryer climate, so a day with a high of 50 in Utah may mean you're freezing your tail off much of the day. OTOH, a day with a high of 90 in Utah might be pleasant in the morning or evening, but that's less likely here. And, as my brother would point out, a 20-degree day skiing is better than a 65-degree day grilling.