Home is where the humidity is.

[GrantRobertson]

I just discovered something interesting. Google Earth Pro (which is free now) has a layer you can turn on to show current weather conditions in various locations. It is not the map I was looking for, but it is a quick way to check the current conditions in a lot of different spots quickly. If I just poke my nose in there every once in a while, I should be able to get a better idea of where good places may be.

 

[compassrose]

Alternative is to run a humidifier and raise the humidity inside your home as needed.

 

[GrantRobertson]

Alternative is to run a humidifier and raise the humidity inside your home as needed.

In areas where I have lived, the air has been so dry in the winter that I had to run as many as four humidifiers at a time in order to barely keep the humidity above 50%. That's a lot of electricity. I have overloaded breakers on many occasions.

I won't use those "cool mist" humidifiers because you have to use distilled water or have nano-particles of minerals deposited everywhere, including your electronics and lungs. (As each microdroplet of water evaporates, it leaves behind an even tinier particle of the minerals that were dissolved in that microdroplet. That hard mineral dust gets everywhere.)

So, anyway, if I am going to go mobile, and because I want too be able to spend more time outside, then I want to find places where I can actually breath the air.

Otherwise, I might as well get a regular job and just get a small apartment and hole up in there till I die.

 

[compassrose]

How warm do you need it to be? If you look at the Clemson/Seneca/Anderson area of SC you will see that there are several lakes (Hartwell, Keowee, Jocassee). Humidity there can be as high as 95% with out it raining. You step out side and you condense moisture. Air conditions don't dribble water, they make a small stream. Winters aren't too terrible. Rarely actually snows. Does get a hot spell in the summer. We lived there from 1990 to 1995. Worked in the area from about 1984 to 1995 when we left for TN.

Chattanooga stays both humid and warmish in the winter and coolish in the summer due to the lake/river. They also are pretty accepting of the mobile lifestyle because there is such a large population of RVers bouncing campgrounds year round. Lived in the area from 1995 to 2005.

 

[LeeRevell]

Sounds a bit like the NorVa area of Virginia.  I was stationed there (Norfolk Navy Base) in the early eighties, and the gulf stream kept the area fairly decent in the winter.  I remember only one bad freeze on winter, where my car got covered in snow.  Learned real quick to NOT let the blanket of snow remain, to start melting, refreeze overnight, start melting again......    I had a long weekend and had to literally chop ice off my door to get in to drive!  But that was an exception.
But.....   I wouldn't wish Norfolk's ghastly "Rush Day" traffic on my worst enemy!  It's called "The Suburb of Boston/Washington" for good reason.
The Richmond area was quite nice in summer, but got colder in winter, being inland.

 

[GrantRobertson]

Learned real quick to NOT let the blanket of snow remain, to start melting, refreeze overnight, start melting again......    I had a long weekend and had to literally chop ice off my door to get in to drive! 

Pro Tip: Rather than chipping the ice (and likely your paint); After sweeping off the worst of the snow, bring out a bucket of the hottest water you can get out of your tap and pour it along the seal of the door. Keep pouring even after the ice has melted away. This will warm up the metal enough so that the remaining water will evaporate rather than freeze the door shut again. Remember, when it is that cold the air is really dry so that little bit of remaining warm water evaporates away pretty quickly.

 

[SoulRaven]

Pro Tip: Rather than chipping the ice (and likely your paint); After sweeping off the worst of the snow, bring out a bucket of the hottest water you can get out of your tap and pour it along the seal of the door. Keep pouring even after the ice has melted away. This will warm up the metal enough so that the remaining water will evaporate rather than freeze the door shut again. Remember, when it is that cold the air is really dry so that little bit of remaining warm water evaporates away pretty quickly.

You need to be REALLY careful doing that, any of that hot water on a window can break it real quick.

 

[GrantRobertson]

You need to be REALLY careful doing that, any of that hot water on a window can break it real quick.

Did it for most off my driving life in the KC area (1976 - 2010). Never had a problem. Never heard of anyone else having a problem either. Remember, NOT boiling water. Just hot water out of the tap, as I said. And you don't pour it fast. That would waste it. You slowly pour it along the seal so it has the most time to do its work.

 

[minimotos95]

I have used cold water with success to unfreeze frozen door jambs but it's not the best option especially if ambient temps are low, you are introducing even more water which was what caused the problem in the first place. Most car dealers in the north just use a propane torch turned down low or butane micro torch and are careful not to burn anything, a torch also works for frozen locks.

 

[BamaDuke]

I lived in Austin for many years, and did notice the lower humidity. The Edwards Plateau is the culprit. If you look, you will notice that on most days the humidity in Johnson City (just west of Austin) is much lower than that in LaGrange (just east). I'm in Conroe, TX, now, far north Houston. The humidity here is a good bit higher than in Austin. The coast is great this time of year, humid but not hot. As the weather warms, you can head north-west, to summer in Fredericksburg or Junction. A short range snowbird, if you will.

Bama

 

[ToyotaEscaper]

I know most of you appreciate the drier mountain or dessert air. However, after a bad reaction to DayQuill back in the 90s, my sinuses can't handle dry air. Anything below 50% for any length of time causes my sinuses to swell up to the point that I can't breath. I live in Austin right now and I am about to take a gun to my head, just so I can make a bigger hole to breath through. So, I am looking for areas that maintain a higher humidity during the winter. (I don't have to worry about finding high humidity during the summer.) As I am not a huge fan of cold either, I would like to find places that also don't get below 40 F at night.

I'm guessing Florida would be good. In fact, I'm guessing anywhere along the gulf coast would be good. But I don't know for sure. I'm also curious about how far inland one can go and still have the higher humidity and temperatures. What about the west and east coasts? How far north can one go, in the winter, and still not get below 40 F at night?

I do plan to do some research on some weather sites and on citydata.com. However, I would like to start with some suggestions from people who have actually lived in these areas. 

Thanks

I know how you feel. I've been in Arizona the past couple years and getting use out of my nose is hard. Also is hard on the rest of my body as well the past year. Thankfully I have a humidifier.

 

[ToyotaEscaper]

Generally the West Coast is low humidity, so Gulf Coast and Lower Atlantic would be my guess.

Not entirely. I've stayed in lots of places along Washington and California and have seen lots of places with decent humidity and no yearly hurricanes like back east.

 

[VJG1977]

Here are a few links that may help you with your research.
I'm using these to plan my trips

Annual Average Relative Humidity in US Cities
A good list of cities with high average humidity.

Accuweather
You can check the daily temps for any location and any month, with historic high, low and average.

Relative Humidity Maps
US map showing currant relative humidity at airports as well as individual state maps.

us--average-humidity
You can do a [font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Local Data Search[/font], then look at historic weather.  It includes temp, precipitation and humidity. 

 

[ToyotaEscaper]

And also http://www.wunderground.com/ it has more weather sensors from individuals so you're not just limited to the few airports.