South-TX Weather Has Been Wonderful (So Far)

We have spent better part of our winters in the RGV last 4 years. Enjoyed weather until last year. Worst year we spent there. This year we are in Mesa, AZ. Next few days highs in the 50's, lows in the 30's with some freezing and rain. Sure hope it gets better.

When we first came to the Valley someone told me that snowbirds come here with the idea that they left winter, but the Valley does have a winter, it's just a short one. Anywhere from two to six weeks. Once I accepted that (and gave up on that semi-tropical economic development marketing BS,) spending the winters in the Valley became pretty nice.

Hopefully we're coming into only two weeks of winter right now. The problem is those snowbirds that come here for only 2-3 months then get six weeks of winter. Makes for a pretty poor return on investment when they were expecting semi-tropical.

I have to agree with John. For us on our 1st and only year of "RV" Snowbirding which was the winter of 2009-10 we were not impressed with the weather in the RGV. Of course at that time we heard the sayings " this is the coldest winter we have ever had in the RGV" or the all appeasing statement of " it's a lot better than up north (home where your S&B is)". I think those two statements have been used every year since on this forum also. It makes it pretty questionable , for us anyways, if like John said, the "return on investment" is not met.For us, living in an RV during those colder periods made us realize that Recreational Vehicles were not built for that type of climate.It can be done , but we started to question if that is how we wanted to spend our retirement years.Honestly there were other issues also(small sites,compound type living,group mentality thinking,etc.).Don't get me wrong , we do wonderful in our RV together , but RV's do not do serve well in weekly cold, wet snaps for us. This is why I stay a tuned to this "Snowbird" forum to keep it honest to the newbies. John hit the nail on the head with his comments.When someone tells you the weather is better than "back home" , just remember back home we EXPECT this kind of cold weather , down south we expect the warmer climates. For the most part , it is a lot warmer . Heads up to the wanna be Snowbirds , you may experience what this post is about and that RV snowbirding does have it trade offs and works for a lot of people. For some like us , we continue to enjoy our community,Family and 2000sf home while taking winter breaks by car, plane or train.JMHO Life is Good!

Birds are still singing and butterflies flying and flowers are still blooming here. Have not seen a frost in 3 years but no sunshine and water is falling from the sky today. HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL.
Nothing to shovel here except a little BS occasionally. :B

LynnandCarol wrote:
I am sure there other parts of the country having very nice winter weather, but for the folks in south-TX we have really been blessed with some awesome weather. I know there is allot of winter left, but after all the bad weather we had last year, so far SO GOOD!

I think your post may have Jinxed us. BRRRR.

pawatt wrote:
Birds are still singing and butterflies flying and flowers are still blooming here. Have not seen a frost in 3 years but no sunshine and water is falling from the sky today. HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL.
Nothing to shovel here except a little BS occasionally. :B

Here in Alamo, Texas the birds are wearing galoshes, and the butterflies have all flown south. I hope it is not like January of 07 when we had seventeen days with rain and darn little sunshine. Park is 90+ percent full, so the Chamber of Commerce forecasts are still working.

Agree DaSu
Too far to come for this kind of weather and leave a nice warm house. Doing it for 7 years time to rethink.
Most of what I read is BS.

pawatt wrote:
Birds are still singing and butterflies flying and flowers are still blooming here. Have not seen a frost in 3 years but no sunshine and water is falling from the sky today. HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL.
Nothing to shovel here except a little BS occasionally. :B

You just made my whole day with your opening statement. Love reading about those butterflies of yours. Really did make me laugh out loud. :)

Still great to be down here with both the Winter Texans and all the Locals. One day I'm sure we'll move on, but I think I will miss the area when that happens.

True story, this year we showed up and the local librarian bought a couple of books to stock the shelves with that she thought DW would enjoy reading this winter. Priceless.

Now that is what the Economic Development Marketing group should be pushing, not that semi-tropical angle.

You do not want to hear how nice it is in SE Fla and will be for the next two weeks... about as far as anyone can guess at the future weather.
LynnandCarol, what were you thinking?

The good thing about the cold (39 degree) and rainy New Year's Eve here in the RGV is that it seems to have cut back on the number of gunshots we heard through the night. Small blessing.