South-TX Weather Has Been Wonderful (So Far)

J & J, you might want to do what a previous poster suggested... a cruise. The Magic is a nice new ship with plenty of things to do on board. Other than George Town I do not like the other ports and would probably just stay on the ship. We are going on a sister ship (Breeze) at the end of the month out of Miami to the Eastern Caribbean. If you do not drink or use the casino it's a very reasonable vacation with plenty to do and eat.
When I get to where I should not be driving the MH I'll have one of the kids drop it off in Fla for the winter. When it comes time for a nursing home, I may pick a cruise line.:B
I can sum up an area pretty fast. The number or windows with bars on them and the amount of graffiti... Portugal had neither.

Ivylog wrote:
"I hear Portugal is coming on as a place to be for snowbirds." Having spent three weeks there this fall I was impressed with the value and they have palm trees. Kind of hard to drive there though.

Thanks for the input! RV'ing is coming to a natural conclusion for us, and flying somewhere and renting for the winter will become more appealing in 2-3 maybe even 4 years. If you were impressed, it will then definitely stay on my radar. :) When you add up fuel, lot rent, maintenance, and depreciation flying and renting isn't so far off the $ mark.

Enjoy your Florida winter, and safe travels.

Predicting the weather is like predicting the outcome of a pair of dice. Take that to Las Vegas and let us know how it turns out. All that I know is today is predicted to be the only day over sixty out of the next ten here in the RGV and we are headed to Mexico.

"I hear Portugal is coming on as a place to be for snowbirds." Having spent three weeks there this fall I was impressed with the value and they have palm trees. Kind of hard to drive there though.
Silversand... Nov 14 was more like the WX in the 70s and not just in Fla. Fortunately Dec warmed up in the south but the rest of the winter is looking like last year... COLD. SE Fla is at 20 days of record setting HEAT with too many day where the high is 80 and I'm having to run the AC for several hours many afternoons. Yes, I know those of you up north feel my pain.:B

It's quite amazing to read the temperature departures from normal (DFN) in Florida. Example, Nov 2014, Pensacola's departure from normal was -6 F from the 54.7F average! Now, down in Orlando, their DFN for November 2014 was -3.2F; and all the way south at Key West, their DFN was a staggering -2.5F (worse than Miami region!).

The departures may not look Earth-shattering, but consider that Pensacola's DFN represents a drop of 10.9% and Orlando's drop is 4.9% in the average over the month!

I graphed the temperature average for Orlando winter season from 1964 to 2013 looking for patterns or cycles, and found that from about 1991, Orlando has a steady cyclical 4~5 year roll from peak high average, to a peak low average. Years 2013 and 2014 are in a very low average dip now (ie. a very cold average in the cycle), so we expect 2015, 2016 and 2017 to be up-swing temperature years...I chose Orlando because it is fairly near the geographical centroid of the peninsula; well, close enough, because I had to choose a place with reliable long-term climate data near center of peninsula :B Let's see how this plays out over the next 3 years!

I have yet to do the above for the RGV region...

I spent a winter in the Ocala area a few years ago and awakened to a frozen water hose more than once. No way to sugar coat it though, it is cold in the RGV with a high of 45 predicted for Thursday and the rest of the weekend not much better. Sister in South Florida reminds me every few day of how nice they are having it.

Ivylog wrote:
...Yes it cost twice as much or more for south Fla so take a look at Ocala with one day where the high will not be above 60 plus it does not cost much more than the RGV with 13 days below 60 at Mission.

When Florida was cheap no body wanted to go to Ocala. Now that it's costly, Ocala is really coming onto it's own. If you're a horse person, like rolling hills with white fences, friendly people, it's a nice place to be. I agree, much nicer then Mission which you're comparing it with, plus the real estate is cheaper if you know where to look.

Ivylog wrote:
...Maybe you get what you pay for???

It's all about supply and demand I guess. If you place a high priority on the weather (which most do) then you're going to have to pay for that demand. For many of us the weather is just one part of the overall picture. A major part granted, but not the only part. For me, I would go crazy in WPB. Too many people, too many high rises, too much big city type crime on the news, and too much attitude from some of the locals. Ocala is nice, but too far from salt water even with their lesser price. IMO

Good thing we're all different, otherwise it would be a very small world from us all fighting over the same chunk of land. I hear Portugal is coming on as a place to be for snowbirds. :@

Trick is to travel around and not get set in your ways right out of the snowbird gate, because the grass just could be greener on the other side of the fence regardless what the internet is saying.

You can blame LynnandCarrol for bragging how GOOD the WX has been in the RGV for the next month or more of COLD WX. While I doubt the accuracy of L O N G forecasts look at this one for Mission TX with five days above 70 this January. You probably do not want to compare it to WPB, Fla where the high is expected to be below 70 for all of two days and five mornings below 60... Brr.
Yes it cost twice as much or more for south Fla so take a look at Ocala with one day where the high will not be above 60 plus it does not cost much more than the RGV with 13 days below 60 at Mission.
Maybe you get what you pay for???

joebedford wrote:
The temperatures are OK in the RGV but a calm day is anything under 25mph wind! Brrr!

The wind is greatest near the coast, we seldom find wind to be an issue in the western Valley. I would say maybe 5% of days would have a wind 25 MPH or greater. We find the winds to be similar to MN Summers wind. But we have not been here through hurricane season, that is what may bring the averages up. RV or patio orientation, tree and structure density and location can make a big difference too.

2112 wrote:
OK, so we have established that it can cost twice as much in Fl as in RGV. No Az snowbirds chimed in. We have also concluded that the weather is warmer with less constant wind in Fl. So far it seems Fl snowbirds are willing to pay the extra for warm sun and comfort.

Sounds like a fair analysis. AZ will be in-between FL and TX. Nights are cold in AZ so living in an entry level RV that's not setup for it would be hard.

2112 wrote:
What about activities?

We love the water which explains why we can always be found around it. So for us it's going to always be water based activities. This is also the main reason we're not in AZ. Florida/California is too costly to be close to the water, leaving Texas.

2112 wrote:
What do people do for entertainment?

I've learnt that going to a destination area entertainment is never a problem. That's why tourist will jump on a plane and fly there. Going to a No and Where area you're going to have to settle for the 55+ park entertainment.

2112 wrote:
How do you amuse yourselves day in and day out while down there?

I must admit that can be a problem during the bad weather time. Wife sews and read, I try to fix up the RV, and spend too much time on the internet. During the nice weather time this is never a problem.

2112 wrote:
Are interactions with locals positive?

That's the biggest reason we come to Texas. If it wasn't for this, we would move on. They are not locals, they are our neighbors.

2112 wrote:
It was mentioned that Fl is crowded. Not so in RGV?

Please do not take RGV to mean Texas. Texas is a huge state where you can spend a whole winter exploring if you're mobile. During those 2-6 weeks of winter you do want to be somewhere around Corpus Christi or further south to avoid really cold temps. To answer your main question the RGV is crowded during the winter.

2112 wrote:
Why all the questions? I retire in 3 years. ...

I did the same research six years ago, that's why I took the time to answer. Best thing I did was get a Class A and drove around some looking for a spot to settle that took care of our needs.

I came to Texas expecting warm tropical (Florida type) weather (based on this forum) and froze. It was a huge waste of my time and money.

Then I figured I wasn't far enough south so I drove down to the RGV and found it to be nothing but a huge city with large Barrio sections. Not how I wanted to retire (another waste of my time and money.) Made it over to the Gulf, and found a destination area that fit our needs. Now we're cooking on gas. :)

Texas isn't a forever state for us, but it works for now.