Hot and Humid Summers - Mild Winters
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9/25/2014
Alabama summers are stiflingly bright, hot and humid. Heaven help you if you don't have AC in your car. Alabama is a great place to live if your interests are in growing fruit and vegetables because of the wide variety of edible plants that love hot, humid weather. Sweet potatoes in particular do fantastic in this weather. IMHO summer in general, isn't worth much more than this, however my opinion is swayed by the fact that I get terrible headaches from being too hot or being in bright light for too long.
Winters here are mild but always seem colder than they are. I don't know if it's the humidity or amount of rainfall but winter temps always seem to hover just above freezing making it feel wet and cold and the skies are grey a lot. It doesn't bother me but most people aren't a fan of this type of weather. It's usually pretty short anyway and the weather changes rapidly during the winter. It could be sunny and near 70 one day and have flurries and be in the 20's the next day. Snow scares the living daylights out of everyone and here's why. We have all been trapped too many times by snow and/or ice at work, school, in the car, at someone's house, etc. and so when it happens, everyone panics and gets on the road at the exact same time to try and get somewhere comfortable which causes massive traffic jams that further escalate the problem. We can't afford to buy plows and salt trucks and snow tires for our cars because honestly it only snows/ ices enough to be a problem about once every four years and Alabama is not exactly a rich state.
Fall is by far the very best season in Alabama especially after September. The foliage is spectacular, the air is crisp and dry and the sun isn't so high in the sky, baking you like a Thanksgiving turkey. It's a great time to hike, fish or camp. Obviously this is my favorite time of year.
Spring is nice too but tornadoes are a very real threat almost every year without fail in almost every town. You will need to decide what you are going to do about tornadoes in advance if you move here. Pollen sufferers seem to have a difficult time during the spring here. I don't have much of problem with pollen except for headaches. I'm sad that summer is around the corner though so spring is only so-so for me.
Rainfall seems to happen mostly in the spring and winter and less so in summer and fall. It snows roughly every other year but only enough to dust the ground and bushes.
Chanda | Vestavia Hills, AL