How do Summers in the East compare to the rest of the state? (Knoxville: houses, university)

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by stealheadrun23

Having not visited the region yet and only having the relative elevation data to reference, I guess my question is: is (North)East Tennessee not "up in the mountains"?

Many/ most of the towns and cities here in northeast TN are at an elevation around 1600-1700 ft, which IMO is enough to claim to be up in the mountains. From the list I posted earlier you can see there are towns that are even higher if you don't mind the the colder winters and smaller populations.

It's 9pm here in Bristol and the temp is a cool 69F, at 8am this morning it was 57F. Even during the hottest days in July and August the overnight lows are generally in the high sixties with an occasional foray into the very low seventies. Most summer mornings are mildly pleasant and quite different to the brutal slap in the face of early morning heat and humidity of Memphis, Houston, or anywhere along the Gulf Coast.

In general I consider it to be 'open window' weather from roughly mid March until about mid May and again from about early September until late October.

[Lin19687]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

Many/ most of the towns and cities here in northeast TN are at an elevation around 1600-1700 ft, which IMO is enough to claim to be up in the mountains. From the list I posted earlier you can see there are towns that are even higher if you don't mind the the colder winters and smaller populations.

It's 9pm here in Bristol and the temp is a cool 69F, at 8am this morning it was 57F. Even during the hottest days in July and August the overnight lows are generally in the high sixties with an occasional foray into the very low seventies. Most summer mornings are mildly pleasant and quite different to the brutal slap in the face of early morning heat and humidity of Memphis, Houston, or anywhere along the Gulf Coast.

In general I consider it to be 'open window' weather from roughly mid March until about mid May and again from about early September until late October.

Just to know... So in Bristol in that same time period, wat is the day time temps and how muggy is it?

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by Lin19687

Just to know... So in Bristol in that same time period, wat is the day time temps and how muggy is it?

Right now it's 2pm with a temp of 75f and dew point of 53f, not at all muggy, yesterday at this time was 78f with a dew point of 47f, again not muggy. But a little over a week ago it was hotter than usual for this time of year, so it does vary.

Here is another good calculator that can be used to determine what temps and humidity are 'comfortable' for most people. Here in the tri-cities area we will generally be in the comfortable/ok range until mid to late June when it will start getting more uncomfortable in the late mornings and afternoons.
https://goodcalculators.com/dew-point-calculator/
IMO the early mornings stay comfortable all summer long, afternoons are sticky and icky for pretty much all of July and a part of August, but then that's coming from someone who spent years living on the Gulf Coast and in the unbearable mugginess of Memphis summers. YMMV.


Best suggestion is to use the calculators and compare to what you experience where you currently live.
Used in conjunction with weather history charts they can give you a pretty good idea of what to expect in a new location.
It's very difficult to convey a feeling of what the humidity and heat are like to newcomers without knowing the area that they are coming from, so the calculators can put it into more concrete terms with numbers.

[rrampage]

The humidity will still be a shock for those who are living in drier, cooler areas of the West. I will say that much.

[Lin19687]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

It's very difficult to convey a feeling of what the humidity and heat are like to newcomers without knowing the area that they are coming from

I'm in Mass, it's on the Right side of my info.
Yours says Yankee.. so I am guessing you are from up this way

[rrampage]

Originally Posted by Lin19687

I'm in Mass, it's on the Right side of my info.
Yours says Yankee.. so I am guessing you are from up this way

Well, much of the population does have to endure a fair amount of humidity, no doubt.

[stealheadrun23]

It's very difficult to convey a feeling of what the humidity and heat are like to newcomers without knowing the area that they are coming from, so the calculators can put it into more concrete terms with numbers.

All of Idaho is going to be much dryer than anywhere in Tennessee the way I understand it, and I imagine I won't enjoy the experience. But the question I'll need to answer is whether I can tolerate that kind of climate for a few months in the year.

[jabogitlu]

Originally Posted by stealheadrun23

Having not visited the region yet and only having the relative elevation data to reference, I guess my question is: is (North)East Tennessee not "up in the mountains"?

No. To get any sort of appreciable cooling you'll need to be in the remote areas in the mountains. Most of Northeast TN is settled in large valleys between mountains or general flatland plains.

Remote mountain towns = Flag Pond, Roan Mountain, Shady Valley, Mountain City, Trade, Laurel Bloomery, etc.

[Serious Conversation]

A big issue with northeast TN compared to western NC and even parts of western VA is that most of the higher elevation about 3000' or so where you will get appreciable cooling is parkland or otherwise under some sort of protection where you cannot live in or build on it.

Also, the towns jabogitlu listed have little to nothing in the way of amenities of services.

[stealheadrun23]

It sounds like I will need to give Western North Carolina a more serious look.