What are the best spots to camp in Texas in Winter?

[John_S2]

We are planning to go down to Texas during the winter and are wondering where the great spots to camp are located. We love to be by water and beaches when we can, love National and State Parks, COE campgrounds, etc.. We love being out with nature. Prefer to have some electric most times with our Class C but can Dry Camp for a few days here and there.

We are planning to visit the Presidential Libraries, The Alamo and all the historic and good tourist spots we can find. We do not have a Toad so we have to be cautious around the big cities as we need a decent sized parking spot for our 24' Class C rig and cities are not all that RV friendly.

Would appreciate any and all camping and site-seeing suggestions.

TIA

[John_S2]

Looks like the trend is continuing with all the cold weather.... Hope the sea turtles are okay..

[silversand]

....hold onto that door knob :B

Dateline December 12th:

"SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — The ongoing rescue of comatose sea turtles stunned by a cold snap in South Texas illustrates the need for volunteers to become Master Naturalists, according to a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service marine expert."

“This latest cold front came in so quickly and dropped water temperatures so rapidly in the shallow Laguna Madre that sea turtles didn’t have time to seek deeper, warmer water,” he said. “They go into a comatose state and can drown unless they’re rescued..."

I REALLY hope that this trend won't continue, but have any of you mariners looked at the sea surface temperatures (SST and multi-model ensemble predicted for January, February & March) in the north and western regions of the Gulf of Mexico recently?

There will be climatological papers written about this brutal cold November in south Texas and the Gulf of Mexico (and, what I hope won't be the coldest south Texas and southern Arizona/California weather perhaps ever to be recorded this winter).

[John_S2]

Oh, glad to hear it is an occasional cold front and not the normal.... Hope it is more normal when we visit.... Got to get those Okies to shut the door!!!!

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

The cold weather in Texas is because those danged Okies keep leaving the door to Canada open !!

[Ivylog]

Any WX forecast of more than 5-7 days I call the "best guess" so hopefully the forecast of NO days above the low 70's for all of December in Mission, TX is not correct. If you look at the historical averages... not sure where the mid to high 70s's are much less 80 ??? The forecast is not any better in AZ and CA..

[silversand]

Wow, did not realize that temps in Central and Southern Texas dropped so low

Texas is in the center-south of the North American continent (1119 miles to the west coast; 1042 miles to the east coast from Texas centroid). When you factor in that cold air will always overpower warm air (cold air is much denser) during fall/winter, and that Texas is in direct geographic aim of all the coldest air (plunging down from the central-north Dakotas and Minnesota (the coldest places on the continent outside Alaska but n the US), you have a far greater occurrence of cold weather in southern Texas when compared with the tropical water surrounded central and south Florida (look at Florida as an island rather than a peninsula just for a second, and imagine all that tropical water surrounding it on literally 3 sides).

[pawatt]

John S wrote:
Wow, did not realize that temps in Central and Southern Texas dropped so low. Better than what we have here but was hoping for temps more in the 50's and 60's.....

Actually it is in the 60's 70's and 80's most of the time with an occasional cold front like now.

[John_S2]

Wow, did not realize that temps in Central and Southern Texas dropped so low. Better than what we have here but was hoping for temps more in the 50's and 60's.....

[pawatt]

Ivylog wrote:
"but it is heading your way" I love it when a moderator takes the bait without checking the long range forecast.

Yup, you got me this time. Will be eating crow for lunch.

[Ivylog]

I know it's not nice to point out the differences... but cheer up as it's going to get up to 42 today in Mission. Good news... heat wave coming with one day of 63 before it turns cold again for a couple days. Remember all the money you are saving as it's too cold to even go out to spend any. Enjoy the slight breeze in TX too.
How much is your heating bill??? OOPs guess having to run the AC for a couple hours negates some of that. Could go to the beach and not run it. Better buy some more UPF 50+ sunscreen as nothing but sun and 80s until after Christmas in the long range guess.

Today in Mission TX.
Dec 7
Mostly cloudy with a sprinkle
42°Lo 36°
Sun
Dec 8
Mostly cloudy and warmer
55°Lo 50°
more
Mon
Dec 9
Occasional rain and drizzle
63°Lo 47°
more
Tue
Dec 10
Colder
53°Lo 41°
more

[TomG2]

John&Joey wrote:

TomG2 wrote:

John S wrote:
There must be something good to see and/or do in the Mission Texas area if all those RV'rs are coming down there. What is it?

Weather, weather, weather...

Mission Right Now
40°F
FEELS LIKE 33°

Sorry Tom, I just couldn't help myself.

....snip.............

My sister calls every day from South Florida to remind me that it is warmer over there. Park rent where she stays is nearly three times what it is here, so I will put on a coat for a few days. (and quit answering her calls)

[John_Joey]

TomG2 wrote:

John S wrote:
There must be something good to see and/or do in the Mission Texas area if all those RV'rs are coming down there. What is it?

Weather, weather, weather...

Mission Right Now
40°F
FEELS LIKE 33°

Sorry Tom, I just couldn't help myself.

"Warm 80's prevail across Florida" (from the Weather Channel.) I can hear Ivy laughing all the way over here even.

I'm still looking for those butterflies Pawatt! where are those guys hiding today?

I guess it could be worst, back north it's -20f. I sure would hate to be heading back into that stuff if I was down south.

Hopefully in 24 hours this nasty stuff will be gone.

[Ivylog]

"but it is heading your way" I love it when a moderator takes the bait without checking the long range forecast.
Even Ocala (northern Fla) is in the 80s until the end of the week and then it's going to get down to the 50's and only up to the mid to high 70s.:B
I realize it's impossible to have a discussion on "Global Warming" or now that it has not gotten colder for 12+ years "Climate Change" but if you believe in it... keep going to TX as it's got to get warmer some year. Never mind as it's "too crowded" in Fla already and too expensive.

This map updates hourly so watch it and bundle up until around 12/19 before it warms back up in Texas.

[pawatt]

Ivylog wrote:

pawatt wrote:
We have not had a frost in the Mission Texas area for a couple of years.

The highest high temp (58 degrees) for the next week in Mission TX is 10 degrees COLDER than the low temps in SE Fla for the next week.:S Even the lows in Ocala are higher than the highs in Mission.
You do not want to know what the high temps will be.

Yes Ivy, but it is heading your way, the citrus in Florida freezes way more often than in Texas.