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Thunderstorms
Jun. 22nd, 2004 08:59 pmThis morning we had thunderstorms, the sort that keep any sane person off of two wheels. One burst of thunder was so long, it felt like it was rolling around the house a couple of times. (Spousal Unit says like a timpani roll, but it didn't sound like that to me.) It stopped raining but was still ominously overcast, until about 4 in the afternoon, by which time it was too late to get anything done at the bank or in the business line in the post office. I have a couple of eBay sales to mail off.
It doesn't usually rain much in June in Austin. I like looking for statistics about weather for different places at Weatherbase. I'm using that as part of our research on where to retire. For example, our main idea has been to retire to San Diego and ride up and down the Pacific Coast Highway, grinning like idiots. The average high temperature in August is only 77°F and average precipitation is 9.9 inches a year. Compare that to Austin's average high of 96°F in August, and 32.1 inches of rain a year. San Diego certainly offers the better riding weather. On the other hand, the housing prices and price of gas in California... San Diego's got lower housing costs than Los Angeles or San Francisco, but still higher than most of the country... so we have to think about that. Also, I'm from the Northeast; most of my family is in the northeast still, so I wouldn't mind being nearer them - not so near that I can be asked to babysit, mind you, but near enough to drive to see them on holidays. So, since there are siblings and cousins in the Philadelphia and Washington DC areas, and various parts of New York and New Jersey, and at least one nephew in VA, I was thinking maybe Baltimore. I'd love to move back to Boston, personally, but Spousal Unit was born and raised in Austin, and there's no way SU is gonna get used to 40 inches of snow a year this late in life. Providence RI scores reasonably high in terms of things we're looking for - culture, access to the entire northeast, reasonable housing costs - and only gets about 30 inches of snow, but that still may be too much for SU. Baltimore seems to be an ideal combination of less snow and cold weather, while being central without being TOO close to anybody. It's got good hospitals (I have congestive heart failure, and medical care is a concern), lots of cultural and art events, access to a wide variety of zoos and aquariums (aquaria if you wish), all of which are on our list. Average high in August is only 85°F, average low in January is 24°F, average snowfall is only 20 inches a year. I think SU can get used to 20 inches. Compare that to Providence's average January low of 20 - believe me, those few degrees can make a difference. Philadelphia's average lows are only a degree lower than Baltimore, and only one inch more of snow a year, but that would put us within only half an hour of my youngest sister with 4 kids of an age to need babysitting - a little too close for comfort :) See what fun I can have with a weather site? Try it!
It doesn't usually rain much in June in Austin. I like looking for statistics about weather for different places at Weatherbase. I'm using that as part of our research on where to retire. For example, our main idea has been to retire to San Diego and ride up and down the Pacific Coast Highway, grinning like idiots. The average high temperature in August is only 77°F and average precipitation is 9.9 inches a year. Compare that to Austin's average high of 96°F in August, and 32.1 inches of rain a year. San Diego certainly offers the better riding weather. On the other hand, the housing prices and price of gas in California... San Diego's got lower housing costs than Los Angeles or San Francisco, but still higher than most of the country... so we have to think about that. Also, I'm from the Northeast; most of my family is in the northeast still, so I wouldn't mind being nearer them - not so near that I can be asked to babysit, mind you, but near enough to drive to see them on holidays. So, since there are siblings and cousins in the Philadelphia and Washington DC areas, and various parts of New York and New Jersey, and at least one nephew in VA, I was thinking maybe Baltimore. I'd love to move back to Boston, personally, but Spousal Unit was born and raised in Austin, and there's no way SU is gonna get used to 40 inches of snow a year this late in life. Providence RI scores reasonably high in terms of things we're looking for - culture, access to the entire northeast, reasonable housing costs - and only gets about 30 inches of snow, but that still may be too much for SU. Baltimore seems to be an ideal combination of less snow and cold weather, while being central without being TOO close to anybody. It's got good hospitals (I have congestive heart failure, and medical care is a concern), lots of cultural and art events, access to a wide variety of zoos and aquariums (aquaria if you wish), all of which are on our list. Average high in August is only 85°F, average low in January is 24°F, average snowfall is only 20 inches a year. I think SU can get used to 20 inches. Compare that to Providence's average January low of 20 - believe me, those few degrees can make a difference. Philadelphia's average lows are only a degree lower than Baltimore, and only one inch more of snow a year, but that would put us within only half an hour of my youngest sister with 4 kids of an age to need babysitting - a little too close for comfort :) See what fun I can have with a weather site? Try it!
