TX weather Question

[sportsmedjosh]

So I did some research and this is what I found out about the area.

The local climate is subtropical and temperate and winters are mild with periods of low temperatures usually lasting less than two months. Snow and ice are extremely rare. Summers are warm and hot with occasional showers being the only real variation in weather.

However I'm curious about other factors such as tornados and any other natural disasters that might occur as I'm looking to retire a 330ci on it and was looking into a new series bmw or a land rover. If there is a lot of flooding or other problems and I need to move hastily then I'm leaning towards the LR.

 

[texas_stang]

Where at in Texas? I live on the coast and we have Hurricanes. Some parts have tornado's. The weather....its a warm 72 now.

 

[Electric Sheep]

Son, in case no one has told you: Texas is *BIG*

773miles x 790 miles

Takes 12+ hours to drive across it either direction.

With an area this large, the climate is considerably different from one end of the state to the other. Parts of the state get LOTS of snow, while other parts (nearly 800 miles south) never get snow. The east is covered by giant forests, while the west has practically no trees at all. The south is hot and humid, the panhandle is cold and dry. Parts get lots of tornadoes, other parts don't get any at all. The gulf gets hurricanes and floods, the west is a dry desert.

You might want to get a bit more specific when you ask about climate in Texas.

 

[jwintosh]

floods? nah... :waving:

 

[cvm4]

IIRC, it was around College Station.

 

[sportsmedjosh]

My apologies, I could have sworn I put College Station in the thread title.

 

[rabbgp]

I lived in Bryan/College Station for 5+ years.

That far inland, you will probably never feel anything from a huricane, and tornados are rare there. Flooding will be a non factor except in rare cases. So, I would say just get what you want, and don't worry about needing 4 wheel drive or the capabilities that a LR would give you.

 

[sportsmedjosh]

sounds great! I already got a great list of pizza places. I'm really glad I can get away with just a car.

 

[Electric Sheep]

College Station is in the Brazos Valley, which is far enough away from the coast to be considered Central Texas. By the time hurricanes get there--about 150 miles inland--they're almost always downgraded to a tropical storm, which isn't much to worry about.

Central Texas doesn't get hit with tornadoes like North Texas does. While tornadoes are certainly common enough, College Station isn't considered part of "Tornado Alley".

I honestly don't imagine that there's much in the way of natural disaster to worry about in Central Texas.

Temperature-wise, expect to have summer temps in the extreme high 90º's and toss in a good helping of 100º+ days while you're at it. Everyone, everywhere will have air conditioning in their cars/homes/workplaces/retail, so it's not as bad as you might think--but it does get plenty hot.

Winter is weird in the central/southern parts of Texas. It's rare that you have more than a few days in a row of the exact same weather. It's more likely that it'll be 35º one day and 65º the next. The reason is that the weather naturally wants to be in the 60ºs/70ºs, but every few days a cold front from the north blows in and freezes everything up. It's not uncommon to run your heater one day and your air conditioner the next.

Oh and depending on where you're from, this might or might not seem odd: pretty much, there's no such thing as "basements" around here. Most Texas houses are built on a concrete slab foundation.

Of course you no doubt realize that College Station is the center-of-the-freakin'-Aggie-universe. Prepare to be totally and completely overrun by the color maroon, Corps boots, rings, and about a zillion other Aggie-land things. That town is all-Aggie, all-the-time.

You might wanna consider learning Spanish.

Central and West Texas are both a lot more "country" than the rest of the State. For instance, here in Dallas, it's *RARE* to see someone wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, but down in College station you're likely to see dozens and dozens of people dressed like that every day. You'll need to understand that casual wear often means "Wranglers & Ropers".

Oh, and yes, everyone in Texas drives a truck. :headroll:

 

[sportsmedjosh]

Yeah I'm from California so when I moved to RI for grad school basements were weird to me at first. Sounds like I might actually like TX, I have 1 pair of boots my Justins which I wear in the winter months to keep warm before it start to snow and switch to snow boots. I did a lot of reading on wikipedia about A&M and College Station but it seems like a lot of still missing as it mostly give just facts about the place. I'm planning at the end of next month to make a trip checking out potential schools starting with a flight to Florida to check out Florida State then driving to Georgia then flying over to TX and then back to RI.

Is College Station humid like the rest of Texas? We get 80% - 90% humidity here in RI so I'm expecting it to be the same or worse. How is insurance for cars over there along with fees to license your vehicle.

 

[texas_stang]

College Station is a nice area. I go deer hunting about 30 miles from there. They got 3 inches of snow 3 weeks ago. That is not normal tho.

 

[rabbgp]

Oh, and yes, everyone in Texas drives a truck. :headroll:

Oh yeah, there it that!! :grin:

 

[Electric Sheep]

Is College Station humid like the rest of Texas? We get 80% - 90% humidity here in RI so I'm expecting it to be the same or worse.

Uhm, actually, Texas isn't necessarily humid.

The Gulf Coast is humid-as-hell (basically, it's the same as Florida) but the rest of Texas is similar to the central Plains states--the farther you get from the coast, the less humidity and the lower the dew point.

Central Texas is certainly MOIST, but I wouldn't consider it overly humid like the Gulf Coast....and you're much wetter in RI than College Station will be.

Hell, West Texas (you know, HALF the friggin state) is lucky to get a raindrop, much less have any humidity in the air. :glassesgr

 

[Electric Sheep]

How is insurance for cars over there along with fees to license your vehicle.

TXDOT Vehicle registration fees depend on what county you live in (more populated counties cost more) as well as the age and type of your vehicle.

FYI--Pickup trucks cost LESS to register than a car in Texas.

Just to give you an example, the registration on my current truck runs around $65-ish per year.

Oh, and you also have to get an annual safety/emissions inspection (you get them at oil change shops, auto repair shops, etc). Again, costs depend on where you live, but for me it runs around $28 bucks or so--and I'm in one of the "expensive" counties.

As for auto insurance, Texas is inline with the rest of the country. Home owners insurance can be a real bitch tho, so watch out there. It's somewhat difficult to get insurance coverage for water and/or mold damage in Texas.

Texas does have *HIGH* property tax rates, and depending on the county you'll find that sales tax is typically around 8.25%. While those may seem high, we don't have any State Income Tax here, so overall it works out to your advantage.

The cost of living in Texas is pretty good, to be honest, and home values have been much more even keel here than in the rest of the country (that's both good and bad, but right now, it's a good thing).

 

[texas_stang]

Oh, and you also have to get an annual safety/emissions inspection (you get them at oil change shops, auto repair shops, etc). Again, costs depend on where you live, but for me it runs around $28 bucks or so--and I'm in one of the "expensive" counties.

Not all counties require that. My county doesn't:stretchgr

 

[Electric Sheep]

Not all counties require that. My county doesn't:stretchgr

Exactly--like I said, it depends on what county you live in. The most populated ones are where it's required, and mine is one of the most expensive of any of them. It's pretty much just the Dallas/Ft Worth/Houston/Austin/San Antonio areas.