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Yah, basically what the title says.

IMO, the best climate has some(but not much) seasonal variations in temperature and weather, has plenty of humidity and rain, is mostly cool(35-50 degrees), with minimal(<5 inches/year) snow, if at all. This is one that I would feel I could live at comfortably(once acclimated) without heating and air conditioning(although pipe heating might be necessary, to avoid broken pipes).

The area in the US that matches this closely is coastal Washington State. So Seattle/Aberdeen are good cities(climate-wise) IMO.

How about "wherever most people lived 200 years ago", before the fossil fuel energy bonanza allowed for places like Phoenix?

As soon as the grid fails in Austin and ends A.C., I'll be headed that way. ;)

60 degrees in the morning, 80 in the afternoon. Moderately rainy. Minimal seasonal variations.

Basically like where I grew up, in the highlands of a south pacific island. SoCal would also fit, but I couldn't live with the crowding.

Wisconsin - Gods country :)

Wisconsin - Gods country :)

I'll take LaCrosse.;)

How about "wherever most people lived 200 years ago", before the fossil fuel energy bonanza allowed for places like Phoenix?

As soon as the grid fails in Austin and ends A.C., I'll be headed that way. ;)

One thing I have always wondered about Texas: Does life in Austin exist without Air Conditioning? And, the winters there suck because it has DRASTIC changes in short periods of time. E.G. Highs in the 30s one day, LOWS in the 60s two days later. Damn near impossible to acclimate!

South-Central Turkey for me.

High humidity (within 30 miles of the ocean).
Frost 2 or 3 times a year, minimal heating required.
Yeah, the summer gets HOT, but I can (and did) handle that without AC.

One thing I have always wondered about Texas: Does life in Austin exist without Air Conditioning? And, the winters there suck because it has DRASTIC changes in short periods of time. E.G. Highs in the 30s one day, LOWS in the 60s two days later. Damn near impossible to acclimate!

A quote from my Houston-native grandmother:
"I don't know about our ancestors who moved to Texas. Either they were really tough and hardy, or just plain stupid!"

Florida from November through April..60 (mostly) for lows and 80 for the highs with not much humidity.

Maine from May through October. Except for the mosquitos it has moderate temperatures.

I like the climate in south florida. My mom called this morning and was talking about the cool spell this morning in the 60's?????? I'll take it!

I like the northeast states. I grew up in NH for a majority of my life. I like good amounts of snow, and not blazing hot summers. Where I live in maryland we have this nasty mix of sort of cold and rain. It's like winter never really gets here. I fells unnatural to me. Spring should be wet, summer should be warm, fall should be crisp, and winter should be cold.

I love the weather here in MN... I just don't like what winter does to my mileage!

I grew up in SC and have a healthy distaste for high humidity and temperatures. :p

Florida from November through April..60 (mostly) for lows and 80 for the highs with not much humidity.

Maine from May through October. Except for the mosquitos it has moderate temperatures.

I didn't know mosquitoes were a unit of measuring temperature. :confused::p

Seriously, though, your suggestion sounds great. I think a number of other folks agree, too...

Hi All:

___San Francisco, CA (if I never had to drive again ;)) and/or Hawaii. Almost pulled the trigger on Alameda across the San Francisco Bay two years ago and am glad we did not given the real estate hit we would have taken. Still, the climate is temperate, no snow, little rain, sunny and its California, home of everything. Taxes there suck however.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi All:

___San Francisco, CA (if I never had to drive again ;)) and/or Hawaii. Almost pulled the trigger on Alameda across the San Francisco Bay two years ago and am glad we did not given the real estate hit we would have taken. Still, the climate is temperate, no snow, little rain, sunny and its California, home of everything. Taxes there suck however.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

The weather in SF is not bad at all. I'd take it over San Diego anyday... The seasonal variance is slim to none in SF. I think August has an average high of 69, while January has an average high of 58.

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USCA0987?from=tenDay_bottomnav_business

Way better than Chicago, at least weather-wise.

For those of you who have been, you will agree with me.

Hands down...............the best weather in the world is Rio de Janeiro:

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/BRXX0201?from=36hr_bottomnav_business

I give you year round moderate temps, beaches, & carnaval.

The weather in SF is not bad at all. I'd take it over San Diego anyday... The seasonal variance is slim to none in SF. I think August has an average high of 69, while January has an average high of 58.

Can you find me a place that's similar, but all temps increaded by 15 to 20? I like the lack of variation, but I HATE cold.

I like the looks of Del Rio Texas, but that 40F average low in Jan is too cold for me. That's the worst problem I have with picking anywhere. I can easily handle heat (up to 110F average highs), but I can't acclimatize myself to temps under 50.

For those of you who have been, you will agree with me.

Hands down...............the best weather in the world is Rio de Janeiro

That's more like it. I could go with a little warmer, but I can get used to that.

One thing I have always wondered about Texas: Does life in Austin exist without Air Conditioning?

Sure, it's hot in the summer and AC is essential. Without a doubt. But it still beats Sean's Minnesota land.

I lived 7 years in New England. Here are the top 10 reasons why Texas is preferable to Massachusetts:

(10) I never need to shovel "solar heat" from my driveway
(9) The "solar shoveling plows" never come down my street and leave a big pile of "solar" next to my parked Prius.
(8) No solar salt left by the highway trucks (to ensure I don't slide on the "solar-coated" highways) to eat away at the body of the Prius.
(7) Never any solar-coated roads making bike riding impossible.
(6) Have you heard of the "solar blizzard of the century"? Me neither.
(5) Why wear six layers when you can wear one?
(4) My pipes never burst due to solar freezing!
(3) I never fall asleep drunk on 6th street during summer nights and wake up in a hospital with solar hypothermia.
(2) Austin headline you will never read: "Downed power lines caused by heavy weight of solar on tree branches result in blackouts across the region."
(1) Sweating is fun :)

Pull the plug on A/C in Texas and traffic problems will vanish along with half the population. ;)

(6) Have you heard of the "solar blizzard of the century"? Me neither.

Actually...
They called it the Great Dust Bowl.

I'm still with you though. If I survived OK, southern CA, and Turkey (especially Turkey) without AC I can survive TX.

I think I found one though:
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/96928?from=36hr_bottomnav_business

Guam seems pretty good for weather. :)

Yeah, it gets a lot of rain, but at those temps I kinda like that.

Interestingly, even though I have a well developed affection for cool now, I was infact born, and lived for 2 years in Austin, Texas. Not that I remember anything, but I do dislike spring/fall/summer here in SoCal due to the heat, and I probably would not survive Texas w/o A/C. The thing is though, the winters kinda suck too over there. They tend to be unpredictable, and there can be a 50 degree difference between a day in August and a day in January/

Well, we're not all in agreement here -- isn't diversity great?

Maybe it's my scandinavian or Minnesota background, but to me a lack of seasonal variation sounds like hell, not heaven. I like 4 real seasons. OK, 3: Not a big fan of hot summers, especially if they're humid. My biggest complaint about my native Minnesota weather is not the frigid winters, nor the relentless wind, nor the violent changeability. It's the hot (at least to me -- many would consider them merely "warm"), humid, bug-infested summers. Yeck. (well, Duluth is OK in the summer).

My ideal climate would be:

Like Seattle in the summer: highs mostly in the 70s and low 80s, minimal rain, low humidity, lots of sun, no mosquitoes, cooling breezes at night. In summer the Puget Sound has probably the most perfect climate on earth. The Bay Area might sound nice too, but at least on the summer visits I've made it's been colder than up here because of all that Bay fog.
Like much of the inland Northwest (Bend, Boise, Wenatchee, Spokane) the rest of the year: cold enough to snow occasionally in winter but NOT frigid and still a decent amount of low-angle sunshine. Lots of sunbreaks in the spring and fall but no question that it is spring or fall.

I suppose I've come close to describing the climate of parts of the northeast? I guess that'd be nice, but that's not where my roots (or work opportunities) are, so it ain't gonna happen.

That said, I can't complain much about Portland weather. Our summers are much warmer and more humid than the Seattle ideal, but still better than most places in the US. (And our springs are much sunnier than Seattle's). Of course I wouldn't mind the occasional thunderstorm and our winters might be gray and damp, but at least it's a moderate climate that's easy to deal with on a daily basis. I can maintain an active lifestyle year round, comfortably (and safely) spend time outdoors almost every day of the year, and can always drive an hour to the mountains when I need a snow fix.

Of course if you don't like seasonal variation, then out of the places I've been Mexico City would be the ideal climate. Mostly 70s year round. Rainy summers, but overall looks like less rain than Rio de Janiero.

Maybe it's my scandinavian or Minnesota background, but to me a lack of seasonal variation sounds like hell, not heaven.

I may not like a total lack of seasonal variation, but imagine driving with those temps year round.

And it's always perfect fishing weather!

With water never more than 1/2 a mile away.

My ideal climate would be:

Like Seattle in the summer: highs mostly in the 70s and low 80s, minimal rain, low humidity, lots of sun, no mosquitoes, cooling breezes at night. In summer the Puget Sound has probably the most perfect climate on earth. The Bay Area might sound nice too, but at least on the summer visits I've made it's been colder than up here because of all that Bay fog.
Like much of the inland Northwest (Bend, Boise, Wenatchee, Spokane) the rest of the year: cold enough to snow occasionally in winter but NOT frigid and still a decent amount of low-angle sunshine. Lots of sunbreaks in the spring and fall but no question that it is spring or fall.


That said, I can't complain much about Portland weather. Our summers are much warmer and more humid than the Seattle ideal, but still better than most places in the US. (And our springs are much sunnier than Seattle's). Of course I wouldn't mind the occasional thunderstorm and our winters might be gray and damp, but at least it's a moderate climate that's easy to deal with on a daily basis. I can maintain an active lifestyle year round, comfortably (and safely) spend time outdoors almost every day of the year, and can always drive an hour to the mountains when I need a snow fix.

Of course if you don't like seasonal variation, then out of the places I've been Mexico City would be the ideal climate. 70s and low 80s year round.

IMO, Portland isn't bad for 8 months out of the year, though a bit more rain would be preferable. Even Seattle summers are a tad warmer than would be perfect, but they are very short, and I wouldn't dream of needing A/C. Then 9 months of bliss of course, with balmy, short days with overcast/rainy weather.

However, this December has been quite an exception in the Coastal Pac. NW. Didn't Portland get a fair amount of snow and *chilly*(Highs in 20s/low 30s) temps for about a week? I'm sure Seattle did.

Of course, to live without heating in Seattle might require pipe heat installation to prevent freezing pipes, especially considering what happened this year.

For those of you who have been, you will agree with me.

Hands down...............the best weather in the world is Rio de Janeiro:

http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/BRXX0201?from=36hr_bottomnav_business

I give you year round moderate temps, beaches, & carnaval.


I think I found one though:
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/96928?from=36hr_bottomnav_business

Guam seems pretty good for weather. :)

Yeah, it gets a lot of rain, but at those temps I kinda like that.

Both of those sound just about perfect.

This is what I grew up with, splitting my time between both locations: http://www.weatherreports.com/Papua_New_Guinea/Aiyura/averages.html
http://mcguckin.us/files/car/weather_png.gif

Can you find me a place that's similar [to SF], but all temps increased by 15 to 20? I like the lack of variation, but I HATE cold.


Yeah, San Diego County, in particular, Vista, which was actually rated in some article for the best weather. We're right in between Oceanside, which gets foggy overcast beach weather, and Escondido, home of the Wild Animal Park, which is dry and hot enough to resemble Kenya. But here it's generally sunny and 65-75 year-round, excepting about a month (now) when highs are 55-60 and lows drop to 30-35, and sometimes even rains. But any day now we could get a Santa Ana and have 75-80 beach party days. We don't get the scorchers like LA. And it certainly doesn't have threats of 50-degree summers, like SF. Plus, if we want to "go to the snow" as they say here (still cracks me up), it's only an hour drive.

I grew up in West Virginia, which is an ideal climate if you want the extremes of four seasons, and I did 10 years of Boston. I came to Cali when the third blizzard in a row was marching across the Weather Channel screen... and took the Greyhound right under it. ;)

Andrew: Did anybody you know get affected by the earthquake last week?

Hope the coffee crop wasn't affected!

I'll depict instead the Perfect Storm.

US 287 runs NW from Fort Worth to Colorado. Abour 15 years ago I drove all the way there for a ski trip then drove back. Northerners often come from the Rockies SW down into Texas towards the Gulf. On the way home, rain follow me ALL DAY (500 miles) :( If it was not for the fact I had to work the next day, I'd been better off pulling over 2-3 hours then go home behind the rain clouds.

IMO, Portland isn't bad for 8 months out of the year, though a bit more rain would be preferable. Even Seattle summers are a tad warmer than would be perfect, but they are very short, and I wouldn't dream of needing A/C. Then 9 months of bliss of course, with balmy, short days with overcast/rainy weather.

However, this December has been quite an exception in the Coastal Pac. NW. Didn't Portland get a fair amount of snow and *chilly*(Highs in 20s/low 30s) temps for about a week? I'm sure Seattle did.

Of course, to live without heating in Seattle might require pipe heat installation to prevent freezing pipes, especially considering what happened this year.Yes, we had a week with lows in the teens and highs in the mid 20s, then a big 13" dump of snow. Total snow for 2 weeks was 20".

But historically we only get about half the snow of Seattle (but more ice, and overall winter temps about the same or cooler). We get 6-8" snow dumps about once every 5 years, and the 13" we got just before Christmas was the biggest snowstorm in 40 years.

The last couple weeks of December were great fun - I have a hard time deciding which I enjoyed more: sledding with my little one almost every day for week, or skiing into work for the first time in my life and finishing off with a 600' descent back home at night. I wish this kind of thing happened more often -- although honestly I wouldn't want it more than 1-2x per year since our local agencies have an utter inability to clear the streets from a big snow dump. It took 4-5 days -- with significant help from Mother Nature -- just to get all the lanes cleared on major arterials and downtown. Good thing it happened just before Christmas or the economic impact would have been much bigger than it was. Even so, an awful lot of kids didn't get their presents until the day after Christmas because UPS couldn't keep up with the weather.

In other words, on the trip, this was me

http://www.deniskitchen.com/docs/bios/bio.jbtfsplk.jpg

I'll depict instead the Perfect Storm.

US 287 runs NW from Fort Worth to Colorado. Abour 15 years ago I drove all the way there for a ski trip then drove back. Northerners often come from the Rockies SW down into Texas towards the Gulf. On the way home, rain follow me ALL DAY (500 miles) :( If it was not for the fact I had to work the next day, I'd been better off pulling over 2-3 hours then go home behind the rain clouds.

A lot of folks like where they're living. Others like the idyllic tropical island temperatures. I've lived in Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, the Rocky Mts, and the Bay Area. My vote is for Bermuda, or Palau, or the BVIs.

Well, we're not all in agreement here -- isn't diversity great?

Maybe it's my scandinavian or Minnesota background, but to me a lack of seasonal variation sounds like hell, not heaven. I like 4 real seasons.

Me to.

Just any one climate would drive me crazy. I have 2 friends that moved to Phoenix. One came back after a year and a half. He said the 1 year was great, he would wake up look out the window and say: “wow it looks like a great day, I think I will take my motorcycle for a ride”
After a year of that he said he would get up and just say to him self: “Just another sunny day, who cares”

3 months of Fall
1 or 2 weeks of summer
2 months of spring
The remaining months of good skiing.

I,m happy with four seasons plus mud season as about the time I,m getting tired of one season the next arrives. Spent a year in SE Asia with two seasons Summer and Monsoon and it was very boring for me. Jon

I'll depict instead the Perfect Storm.

US 287 runs NW from Fort Worth to Colorado. Abour 15 years ago I drove all the way there for a ski trip then drove back. Northerners often come from the Rockies SW down into Texas towards the Gulf. On the way home, rain follow me ALL DAY (500 miles) :( If it was not for the fact I had to work the next day, I'd been better off pulling over 2-3 hours then go home behind the rain clouds.

Sounds like a trip I made many years ago from Minot ND to Lake Geneva WI.
It rained on me the entire trip. However, for 6 straight counties I heard announcements on the radio.

Just as I left the county, it received a tornado warning! These tornadoes chased me for quite a while, but I had a full county lead on them.

Andrew: Did anybody you know get affected by the earthquake last week?

Hope the coffee crop wasn't affected!

Hadn't heard anything. Earthquakes 5.0 and below are common there. The coffee crop is fine - the trees are flexible. Fortunately, in a developing nation, so are the houses. They wobble around a bit, but don't break. I experienced a 7.1 when I was living there. That was a bit scary! Even then, the damage was minimal.

Now that I think about it, that might be a consideration for the "ideal climate". No danger of major natural disasters. PNG loses on that count!

Boy, if you include natural disasters like quakes in the "ideal climate" definition it raises some big questions. Maybe midwestern weather doesn't look so bad ('cept for the twisters, but those usually give at least a few minutes' warning, unlike quakes which don't even give you 1 second). At least in the US, not many places that are free of quakes, twisters and hurricanes.

And if you are in a quake-susceptible area, what's better? California, which gets devastating 7-8 magnitude quakes every 10 years or so, or the Pacific NW, which gets obliterating 9-10 magnitude quakes (100 times more powerful than 7-8) every 300 years? Well, the Pacific NW is better if you happen to live in the right century. Otherwise not. For reference, our last quake of that magnitude was 308 years ago. *Shudder*

Drive home today, Snow.
not all bad - Everyone wanted to drive My speed for a change. :)

if it's going to be cold, you need to have Snow.
Don't cha no, ya goot snow.

... And if you are in a quake-susceptible area, what's better? California, which gets devastating 7-8 magnitude quakes every 10 years or so, or the Pacific NW, which gets obliterating 9-10 magnitude quakes (100 times more powerful than 7-8) every 300 years? Well, the Pacific NW is better if you happen to live in the right century. Otherwise not. For reference, our last quake of that magnitude was 308 years ago. *Shudder*

If you include earthquakes, don't forget volcanoes. Not just the big blasts that remove the top quarter mile of a mountain, but the more frequent, non-eruptive, nearly silent mudflows that suddenly come down and re-pave the plains, sometimes all the way to Puget Sound. In between these lahars, these plains make wonderful places to build up towns and cities ... Enumclaw, Orting, Tacoma ...

Volcanoes…. Spend a couple of vacations in a Volcano - Yellow Stone.
Went to a Park Ranger talk, According to the Ranger they have found rocks in Texas from the last time Yellow Stone went off.

Definition of Ideal climate: Girls in bikini's, beer in cooler, a gentle ocean breeze blowing the scratch off remnants of my winning Florida lottery ticket . :D It could happen. - Dale

Oh yeah, forgot about that one. IIRC something like half a million people between Tacoma and Renton live in areas that have been buried by lahars before.

70’s at night, 80’s to low 90’s in the daytime with a daily afternoon shower to keep the vegetable garden green. Maybe a few nights in the upper 60’s but nothing colder than that. I hear that is Hawaii but I’ve never been there to verify. Something to dream on when Friday’s cold front hits the east cost anyway.

Ideal = California's Central Coast

jcp - right now that sounds PERFECT!

when i don't have to run the heat nor the a/c!

Hi All:

___I will go all the way back to the beginning of the thread. Hawaii.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi All:

___I will go all the way back to the beginning of the thread. Hawaii.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

My Irish skin says, "OUCH!!!!" :eek:

My Irish skin says, "OUCH!!!!" :eek:

I haven't a thing to add to this.

Never colder than 70 and never warmer than mid 90s. With rain only at night or in the early mornings

It's really nice down here in the central highlands of Guatemala just now. Typically 75-80F and dry during the day, 60-65 at night. And almost no rain during the dry season, which is November to May. I'm told that during the rainy season, this area usually has a couple of hours of intense rain in the afternoons but otherwise clear and dry. It's a touch warmer during the rainy season.

Much hotter and more humid down on the Pacific Coast.

Rarely need more than T-shirt, jeans or shorts, and sandals around here.

Having just spent a weekend (family emergency) in Palm Springs, CA, reminded me of my preferences.

Low 80s every day. I guess to a lot of people that's paradise, but definitely hotter than I like. Had to run the dang A/C (for passengers' comfort, against my wishes) some of the time. At least the nights were nice and 50-ish, but that ain't gonna be true even in April.

Got off the plane in Portland (I should add we're having an extremely mild winter) in mid 50s weather and thought, "Ahh. Now THAT feels better."

Anywhere east of the Mississippi is too humid. It's too cold in the winter if temperatures allow snow to stick. It's too hot in the summer if temperatures exceed 80 degrees. The ideal climate is coastal northern CA to coastal WA.

Mediterranean climate: lots of sun, mild/moderate temperatures. Then again, I may be biased...

I guess I'm tolerant. Above 0F (10F if windy) and below 100F (90F if humid) and I'm good. It never seemed like a big deal to wear a little more or less clothing to me. I just don't want it to switch between the two very quickly or to stay too long at any one setting. I do remember literally getting tired of winter back in Jan/Feb when I was out working in it everyday, but even that has its advantages --no insomnia.

Hi All:

___Within the confines of my home, I have never experienced snow or ice other than inside the refrigerator/freezer, never seen it rain other than in the shower and it has always been between 55 (winter low when nobody’s home) and 82 degrees (mid-summer day) both day and night. I call that perfect although 45 feet in any direction is certainly much different :)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Palm trees all over.

I am with Sean and Allen, Minnesota's climate is the best! we have every kind of weather you can think of, except hurricanes. We did have the most tornadoes of any state this year though.