WHICH STATES WHICH MONTHS IN DEEP SOUTH WEST AS SNOWBIRDS
Someday said
11:33 PM Nov 2, 2015
Hubby just arrived tonight in Fla for 6 weeks fishing and says it's sweltering down there, and here I am stuck in AB waiting for snow that keeps threatening in the skies and temps. Anyway, that got me thinking about our not too far away snow birding travels and plans.
Can you experienced snowbirds share with us which months are the best ones to be in which states based on recent years temperatures/weather conditions etc on the West side so I can best plan our routes to be as pleasant as realistically possible?
Seem to recall reading that San Diego was too cold for some at one point (think JimAlberta mentioned that one year when there), that New Mexico was subject to bad winds or something at certain times (BarbOK seem to recall you writing something on that a while back regarding times to avoid). Just can't recall it all from memory, which seems to be getting worse all the time, so wondering if you'd share when is the best time to be in the following states for pleasant overall temperatures and generally good weather from Oct thru April/May.
Initially we were thinking our first full winter being in the RGV, Louisiana and NM but just read somewhere about the bad weather in the RGV the past 3 years. Thanks for sharing your experiences on when is the best time to be in:
Nevada
Arizona
Texas - various parts especially San Antonio and RGV areas
Louisiana
New Mexico
Southern California
Northern California
We typically head down/back through Montana, Idaho and Utah, and would love to experience some of the SP's, Lake Powell, Zion and other must sees in these states but not sure what we can get away with in say Oct or Mar/Apr/May enjoying climate wise returning. For sure we enjoyed near perfect weather this end Aug, Sept & early Oct heading through Montana, Idaho Panhandle, Washington, Oregon and Northern California on the coasts, but started to be rather uncomfortable as we got further south when headed inland, so know it's important to ideally be in the right place at the most optimum times.
Looking forward to reading your experiences.
SD
Jim01 said
06:58 AM Nov 3, 2015
During our 12+ years of full-timing, we've been in many of the southern states at different times of the year. I can tell you that just because the weather was "perfect" this year in a certain state during the month of December, it sure doesn't mean that the weather will be anything like that next year.
In other words, "There 'ain't no 10's!!!"
You might find this web site helpful with your plans, but remember, all the figures are the average of past years. http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/state.php3?c=US&s=&countryname=United-States
Good luck in your search.
Jim
-- Edited by Jim01 on Tuesday 3rd of November 2015 06:59:03 AM
Barbaraok said
09:25 AM Nov 3, 2015
We spend from October through March in Mesa, AZ. We've been all over AZ and found Mesa had everything we want. While we had a couple of 100 days after we got here on the 6th of October, the temperature really drops as the sun goes down and we haven't had to run the air conditioning after dark since we got here. Temperatures the past couple of week have been high 80s, lows mid 50s, and it will be a little cooler this week but plenty of sunshine.
Didn't like Yuma at all (not really a lot to do unless you have a lot of friends in the area), Tucson is ok, but not as nice as the Phoenix area, Benson can get quite chilly. Plus, if you love baseball Phoenix area has both fall instructional league in October and November and Spring Training in March in the Phoenix area. We spent a couple of years traveling all around the Arizona/Southern Cal/Nevada/Utah area looking for where we wanted to winter. For a longer stint (3-5 months) we found that the Phoenix area had everything we wanted in terms of weather, museums, restaurants, concerts (have tickets to several already for the winter), shopping, easy access to the Superstition Mountains, etc. Others really like being out in the desert boon docking, or have friends in small towns where they all congregate for the winter.
We spent several weeks in Palm Springs/Indio and Desert Hot Springs. Though it is cheaper in Desert Hot Springs, the winds blow all of the time. Did like Indio, but all of the parks are expensive and for several months, it wasn't for us. San Diego is expensive for us, as is most of Southern California. Northern California can be wet/cold depending upon the years.
New Mexico is up on a high plateau and is too cold & windy for us. Nevada is also too cold for us for several months in a row.
RGV (Rio Grande Valley) in Texas - spent 1 winter, too much wind, too little to do for us. Louisiana and rest of the Gulf Coast are nice, great for seeing, but not someplace that we would like for the whole winter.
Just really depends upon what you want. Do spend a winter or two moving around and looking at different areas to find your niche.
Barb
Someday said
09:28 AM Nov 3, 2015
Thanks Jim, we can appreciate that, same here, we've had Christmas Day in 1999 two degrees warmer in Alberta than where we were in Kissimee Fla that year and it was too cold to use a pool. Just looking for a rough guidance on which months where to put the odds in our favour for the most part, not only temperature wise but other commonly prone times for avoiding tornadoes, hurricanes, bugs etc.
Hope we can achieve a dozen years like yourselves did on the road and cherish every minute.
Thanks as well Barb, personal opinions based on time of years there and what you enjoyed/didn't care for.
-- Edited by Someday on Tuesday 3rd of November 2015 09:31:21 AM
Terry and Jo said
11:48 AM Nov 3, 2015
Well, considering that Canada is your home, even the Colorado Springs area would be an improvement. We've been at Mountaindale Cabins and RV Resort near Colorado Springs since July of 2014. Our lowest temperature last winter was -6 degrees. Oh, and the humidity is a lot lower than southern Texas.
As for winds, we are right at the base of the front range, so winds are generally light, if there are any at all. Bugs will soon be gone as we are expecting to finally get to freezing or below in a couple of days. It's about time as we are getting tired of the Western Conifer Seed Bug looking for a place to winter over. (You should see Jo when one of them gets under the sheets with her.)
Certainly no hurricanes or tornadoes here where we are. Just deer and wild turkey. It's quiet as well as we're 2 miles from the nearest highway.
Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Tuesday 3rd of November 2015 11:49:21 AM
igotjam said
05:28 PM Nov 3, 2015
Also from AB. Suggest CA south of LA. AZ (but not NE AZ), TX south of Corpus Christi, FL south of Tampa. Everything else is too cold for Dec & Jan. (but Nov & March is nice a bit further north like AL, MS, LA etc)
Hubby just arrived tonight in Fla for 6 weeks fishing and says it's sweltering down there, and here I am stuck in AB waiting for snow that keeps threatening in the skies and temps. Anyway, that got me thinking about our not too far away snow birding travels and plans.
Can you experienced snowbirds share with us which months are the best ones to be in which states based on recent years temperatures/weather conditions etc on the West side so I can best plan our routes to be as pleasant as realistically possible?
Seem to recall reading that San Diego was too cold for some at one point (think JimAlberta mentioned that one year when there), that New Mexico was subject to bad winds or something at certain times (BarbOK seem to recall you writing something on that a while back regarding times to avoid). Just can't recall it all from memory, which seems to be getting worse all the time, so wondering if you'd share when is the best time to be in the following states for pleasant overall temperatures and generally good weather from Oct thru April/May.
Initially we were thinking our first full winter being in the RGV, Louisiana and NM but just read somewhere about the bad weather in the RGV the past 3 years. Thanks for sharing your experiences on when is the best time to be in:
Nevada
Arizona
Texas - various parts especially San Antonio and RGV areas
Louisiana
New Mexico
Southern California
Northern California
We typically head down/back through Montana, Idaho and Utah, and would love to experience some of the SP's, Lake Powell, Zion and other must sees in these states but not sure what we can get away with in say Oct or Mar/Apr/May enjoying climate wise returning. For sure we enjoyed near perfect weather this end Aug, Sept & early Oct heading through Montana, Idaho Panhandle, Washington, Oregon and Northern California on the coasts, but started to be rather uncomfortable as we got further south when headed inland, so know it's important to ideally be in the right place at the most optimum times.
Looking forward to reading your experiences.
SD
During our 12+ years of full-timing, we've been in many of the southern states at different times of the year. I can tell you that just because the weather was "perfect" this year in a certain state during the month of December, it sure doesn't mean that the weather will be anything like that next year.
In other words, "There 'ain't no 10's!!!"
You might find this web site helpful with your plans, but remember, all the figures are the average of past years. http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/state.php3?c=US&s=&countryname=United-States
Good luck in your search.
Jim
-- Edited by Jim01 on Tuesday 3rd of November 2015 06:59:03 AM
Didn't like Yuma at all (not really a lot to do unless you have a lot of friends in the area), Tucson is ok, but not as nice as the Phoenix area, Benson can get quite chilly. Plus, if you love baseball Phoenix area has both fall instructional league in October and November and Spring Training in March in the Phoenix area. We spent a couple of years traveling all around the Arizona/Southern Cal/Nevada/Utah area looking for where we wanted to winter. For a longer stint (3-5 months) we found that the Phoenix area had everything we wanted in terms of weather, museums, restaurants, concerts (have tickets to several already for the winter), shopping, easy access to the Superstition Mountains, etc. Others really like being out in the desert boon docking, or have friends in small towns where they all congregate for the winter.
We spent several weeks in Palm Springs/Indio and Desert Hot Springs. Though it is cheaper in Desert Hot Springs, the winds blow all of the time. Did like Indio, but all of the parks are expensive and for several months, it wasn't for us. San Diego is expensive for us, as is most of Southern California. Northern California can be wet/cold depending upon the years.
New Mexico is up on a high plateau and is too cold & windy for us. Nevada is also too cold for us for several months in a row.
RGV (Rio Grande Valley) in Texas - spent 1 winter, too much wind, too little to do for us. Louisiana and rest of the Gulf Coast are nice, great for seeing, but not someplace that we would like for the whole winter.
Just really depends upon what you want. Do spend a winter or two moving around and looking at different areas to find your niche.
Barb
Thanks Jim, we can appreciate that, same here, we've had Christmas Day in 1999 two degrees warmer in Alberta than where we were in Kissimee Fla that year and it was too cold to use a pool. Just looking for a rough guidance on which months where to put the odds in our favour for the most part, not only temperature wise but other commonly prone times for avoiding tornadoes, hurricanes, bugs etc.
Hope we can achieve a dozen years like yourselves did on the road and cherish every minute.
Thanks as well Barb, personal opinions based on time of years there and what you enjoyed/didn't care for.
-- Edited by Someday on Tuesday 3rd of November 2015 09:31:21 AM
Well, considering that Canada is your home, even the Colorado Springs area would be an improvement. We've been at Mountaindale Cabins and RV Resort near Colorado Springs since July of 2014. Our lowest temperature last winter was -6 degrees. Oh, and the humidity is a lot lower than southern Texas.
As for winds, we are right at the base of the front range, so winds are generally light, if there are any at all. Bugs will soon be gone as we are expecting to finally get to freezing or below in a couple of days. It's about time as we are getting tired of the Western Conifer Seed Bug looking for a place to winter over. (You should see Jo when one of them gets under the sheets with her.)
Certainly no hurricanes or tornadoes here where we are. Just deer and wild turkey. It's quiet as well as we're 2 miles from the nearest highway.
Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Tuesday 3rd of November 2015 11:49:21 AM